[1]State of the tower and bells

In February 2023, Ted Steele reported the following:

‘From what was told me by someone who knew it from others who were (I think) involved, the last ringing was in c1956. It was thought, as also in the case of nearby Fishlake to have been due to mining subsidence but to the best of my knowledge in neither instance has this ever been shown to be correct. (If it was then the National Coal Board would have been responsible for repairs). It was related to me that the ringers involved got out of the tower in double quick time when bits of masonry began to fall, but I was given no further details. It is my opinion (though I have no actual evidence to support it) that the falling masonry was probably from pinnacles and/or window tracery and that the damage got repaired as part of general repairs to the tower which were made in later years, without this ever having led to the bells being declared safe to ring.

‘The reason that they are now unringable arose somewhat later; I don’t know exactly when. It is that a new heating system was installed that involves a large blower blasting hot air down through a grid into the church below the crossing. The ducting and other components of this take up the majority of the space in the former ringing room and several of the ropes fall on top of these large obstructions making ringing impossible. The bells are in fundamentally good condition and are regularly chimed from an Ellacombe apparatus.

‘A survey a few years ago confirmed that the tower itself had minimal movement when the accessible bells were rung and that some basic restorative work could bring them back to good ringing order; this is however currently precluded by other priorities for church expenditure. A decision was made to spend a considerable amount on repairing the heating system as the much more costly option of replacing it was not feasible. This means that there is no chance of a restoration in the lifetime of the current heating system. I imagine that further surveys would be required to confirm the current safety of the tower ahead of any planned restoration. Concurrent with the survey referred to a similar one at Fishlake confirmed that the bells are quite properly considered unsafe to ring.’

Published: 24/02/2023; updated: 24/02/2023