Saving Pembroke's Bells
Anne Bunker, from the diocesan Guild of Bellringers, provides an update on a restoration project at the church of St Mary the Virgin.
A year ago, our project was promised a tiny part of the £10.5 million Levelling Up Fund allocated to Pembrokeshire County Council to be spent on Pembroke Town.
Sadly, this hasn’t (yet) materialised so St Mary’s bellringers are continuing to raise the funds needed to restore the eight bells, augment them to ten, and so enable the ancient art of change ringing to continue and to save and improve the soundscape of the town for future generations.
Quizzes, concerts and raffles have been well supported by local people, who love to hear the bells, even though they don’t all regularly attend worship in St Mary’s. The bells remind people that the church is there, in the heart of the community. As well as replacing all the fixtures and fittings for the bells and the bell frame and support beams, the three floors in the Norman tower need replacing urgently. The full cost of all this specialist work is £200,000.
We are excited to announce that we have just received a grant from The Barron Bell Trust of £8,000 and two of the three new bells needed to complete the project have been donated. Cast into one bell will be the name of the person for whom the bell has been gifted and cast into the other bell will be the name of the family donating it. The oldest of St Mary’s bells dates from 1765. The new bells should therefore still be ringing in 2283!
Christmas is a time for bells. If you are looking for that special present that will keep on giving joy for hundreds of years, gift a loved one a part of our Bell Restoration Project. https://pembrokebellrestoration.wales/gifts-ideas-christmas Your nominated name can be displayed on a sponsor's board and website.
Meanwhile, in Llandeilo…
Volunteers from the Guild have also been busy in Llandeilo, helping Blyth & Co Church Bell Specialists to stabilise the bell chamber floor and bell frame at St Teilo’s.
The Guild hopes that the lovely ring of six bells will soon be back in working order so that the congregation and the community of Llandeilo will be able to enjoy the sound of bells again.