Historic bells at a church in Whalley, which are more than 280 years old, are set to ring once again after a major refurbishment.

On Saturday, October 19, a day of celebrations have been planned after the completion of the the Whalley 2024 centenary bell project.

The set of eight bells at St Mary and All Saints Church, on Church Lane, have been restored.

The bells were recast in 1924 by John Taylors of Loughborough from the original set of six bells which were installed in 1741.

After 100 years of hard use, a major maintenance was required to repair or replace many worn parts including main bearings, bell clappers, rope pulleys, rusty fittings and bell ropes.

After a long period of fundraising, the bells fell silent at the beginning of July for the maintenance work to begin.

A team of volunteers from the local Whalley bell ringers and other towers in the area assisted the professional bell hanger from Nicholson’s Engineering in Dorset to dismantle the bell installation and remove all worn parts ready for refurbishment.

Between August and October, the bells were once again hung on their bearings and all refurbished parts were replaced.

The main bell wheels were refurbished on site by the volunteer team who also worked tirelessly with the bell hanger to complete all the refurbishment work.

In addition to the bell refurbishment work, funds have been raised to fit tower sound control which will allow the bell sound to be restricted for residents in the local area. All the tower window openings have been boarded up and fitted with electrically operated flaps.

The flaps will be opened when the bells are required for church services, and local and national events, which will allow the bells to sound out as they have done for centuries.

The sound control flaps will be closed to allow the bell ringers to practice and during the process of teaching new bell ringers and so reduce sound levels in the local area.

The control of bell sound will allow more bell ringing at Whalley and it is the aim that we will become a training hub for the purposes of promoting English church bell ringing in the North West area.

As part of the bell restoration, the ringing room has been redecorated to replace loose plasterwork and new lighting installed in all areas to improve safety.

Details have been released about the day of celebration on Saturday, which starts at 10.30 and ends around 5pm.

The details are:

  • 10.30 to 11.30am: Quarter peal on the bells (a period of around 45 minutes of continuous bell ringing in a special sequence).
  • 2.00 to 3.00pm: Open ringing and service ringing for all on the bells.
  • 3.00 to 3.30pm: Service of thanksgiving, will led by the Bishop of Blackburn, Reverend Philip North.
  • 3.30 to 5pm: Refreshments in church together with further open ringing on the bells.

A spokesperson for the project said: “We are holding this special day on October 19, to thank all our supporters, donors, fundraisers and volunteer helpers.

“This project could not have started or been completed without their hard work, support, advice and encouragement. Everyone is welcome to join in the service of thanksgiving at 3pm which will led by the Bishop of Blackburn, Reverend Philip North.”