Looking after your bells

The tradition of ringing church bells dates back to AD 400 when Paulinus of Nola first introduced bells in association with a church.

As then, the primary purpose of ringing church bells today is to signify the time for worshippers to gather for a church service and of course they also ring out for other significant occasions such as weddings and funerals providing a background soundtrack that we all recognise. It’s probably still true to say that almost everyone in Britain lives within hearing range of bells.

Many churches have bells going back centuries which mean that at times they and the bell frames that support them need care and sometimes major work.

There are several organisations which will specifically fund repair and restoration of bells:

• The Sharpe Trust administers grants for the maintenance, repair, and restoration of church bells in England and Wales 
• The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers administers two funds for bell restoration, the Central Council's Bell Restoration Fund and the Fred E Dukes International Bell Fund (for bell restorations outside the British Isles). When funds are available, applications for the Bell Restoration Fund are invited by notices in The Ringing World and on the CCCBR website, generally in December or January.
• The Manifold Trust distributes about £800,000 a year. Most grants are between £400 and £5,000, although a few are given in the range of £5-£20,000 and a small number over £20,000. Funding is available for Church of England churches seeking money for organs, clocks, stained glass, monuments, metalwork, woodwork, wall paintings or paintings on canvass or wood. The trust also supports churches to reinstate the use of bells.  Contact them at Shottesbrooke House, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 3SW. Tel .
• The Heritage Lottery Fund has a variety of programmes which might suit your project, if it has a heritage angle. Do remember that you are eligible to apply for ALL HLF programmes (not just the places of worship grant scheme), but bear in mind that they are very keen that athough the heritage is the key aspect of the project, that any repair or restoration of bells will involve the wider community by offering activities that will help people learn more about the bells eg: their history and how they are used etc… 
• Church of England churches can apply for funding for church bell and bell frame repairs from The Council for Church Buildings. 

And finally an organisation I have only just come across, the Keltek Trust which is helping to preserve our bell heritage by recycling redundant and surplus church bells.

Formerly registered as a UK charity in 1997, the Trust is active in finding new homes for surplus and redundant bells.  They produce and distribute the Surplus and Redundant Bell Lists which helps to find bells for a number of church bell augmentation and installation projects.

Not all bells come from closed churches. Many come from churches undertaking a bell-restoration scheme. Some bells may be surplus to requirements, for example the re-modelling of a peal of bells into a light ring or some bells may be out of tune with the remaining bells. Other churches may want to acquire a ring of bells or augment existing bells.  

Established in 1998, the Bell Rescue Fund is a major factor in enabling no longer need bells to find an appropriate new home. Using the Fund, the Trust can buy bells at risk and put them into storage until a suitable destination can be found. 

So if you are looking for bells or know of any surplus or redundant bells make contact with the Trust via their website 

Becky Payne