Over the past two years, the bells and bell tower at SS Peter & St Paul, Harrington, located in the Brixworth deanery, have been through significant restoration to enable their continued use for future generations. This has been very much a community project involving significant fundraising and physical labour from local volunteers. David Dainty from Kettering Branch shares details of the bells’ removal.
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“The Harrington bells were cast by Thomas II Mears in 1817 and hung in an oak frame of that date.
There was concern about the condition of the bells in the late 1960’s relating to the tower, frame etc. and ringing was stopped because of the potential danger. Val, still living in the village, recalls the bells being rung for her sister Jen’s wedding in 1969. But the bells were not available for her own wedding the following year. A mechanism was installed allowing the bells to be chimed by a series of levers, but the bells could not be raised.
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The inspiration to bring the bells back into use was spearheaded by Mark Jackson-Stops, a member of the PCC. He set about obtaining a faculty for a wider project, including improved access to the church, kitchen facilities and provision of a toilet, in addition to re-hanging of the bells. This involved obtaining quotations for the works, followed by the fundraising. John Taylor & Co. offered a discount of £9,000 if local labour, in the form of two helpers per day, was provided. This was achieved with volunteers from the village, supported by Andy Bimson, Kettering Branch Steward, and his band of helpers during the lowering of the bells from the tower. Fundraising efforts were somewhat interrupted by the COVID lockdowns, but sufficient funds were eventually raised to enable the project to get underway.
Following several postponements due to an outstanding bat survey, Andy arrived on 22 July 2023, accompanied by Kim Beasley, David Dainty, Dave Halfhide and Paul Salter, and spent the morning removing all clappers, pulley blocks, stays, wheels and the chiming levers, in preparation for the removal of the bells.
The following Tuesday, work started to lower the bells, under the leadership of the bellhanger from John Taylor & Co., assisted by local volunteers, Andy, and branch helpers.”
Re-hanging the bells
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The project to re-hang the bells at St Peter & St Paul took place throughout April 2024 stretching into early May. The work was led by ‘Kit’ Bardesley, the Bellhanger for John Taylors of Loughborough, assisted by a large group of volunteers jointly from the village and members of the Kettering Branch. Work started to repair and reinforce the frame, which included installing two steel beams, which each came in two sections, directly under the frame to provide support. The oak frame was reinforced by various steel plates, and a considerable amount of unsound timber was cut away from the various beams, the resulting voids being filled later with a specially made 2-pack resin-based filler.
By 9 April, the steel beams were in-situ and in the process of being concreted into the tower walls.
The bells were delivered back to Harrington a week later, with a small crowd of fundraisers and villagers coming along to welcome them back. Once unloaded, the bells were dressed with freshly cut flowers, and a short service to bless the bells was held in the Churchyard, led by the Revd James Watson.
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The next phase was to raise and re-install the bells back into the frame one-by-one. Bells 1, 4, 5 & 6 were in situ by the end of the day. The bells were all in place and the clappers were installed on 25 April. The following week, a scaffolding was erected to allow wooden rope guides to be installed between the floor of the Belfry and the ceiling of the Ringing Chamber. A test ring was held on 2 May, involving Alistair Donaldson, Bill Adcock, Murray Coleman, John Beresford, Jim & Sarah Bence, and the Bellhanger, Kit. The final touches and tidying up of the Belfry were competed on 3 May.
A Tower Renovation Dinner to recognise all of those taking part in the project was held on the evening of 27 June at The Swan in Lamport. Once work on a new kitchen facility and toilet at ground level are complete, it is hoped that the bells will be in regular use for all to enjoy.
This renovation project was funded in part by the Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers Bell Fund. The fund exists to assist the Church within the Diocese of Peterborough in the preservation of redundant bells; the repair, restoration and augmentation of existing bells; the provision of new bells and other work directly associated with the repair, restoration, augmentation or provision of bells.
Find further information, including how to donate to the fund, here