After an extensive fundraising effort, the new bells of Christ Church on Julian Road will shortly be arriving, and will be placed around the church before being fitted in February next year.
They will make an impressive and unusual site, sitting in various places in the body of the church awaiting dedication by the new Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Bishop Peter will be visiting Christ Church on Sunday 21st December when he will lead the morning service and dedicate the bells with the help of children from the congregation.
As well as welcoming friends and neighbours to this special service, there is also an opportunity to view the bells and talk to members of the congregation on Friday 19th December from 12pm to 2:30pm, when the church will be offering coffee and a mince pies in an extension to their regular Friday community café.
The sound of church bells is a much loved part of the English soundscape, but for many years there has been no regular ringing in the vicinity of Christ Church in the north of Bath.
Christ Church plays an active role in the community around Julian Road and has a strong musical tradition which continues to this day, but the once regular bell ringing gradually lessened after the First World War as the peal became too difficult to ring.
The project to restore the bells to working order is now nearly complete and includes a number of measures to control and direct the sound of the bells upwards, avoiding disturbance to the church’s neighbours.
The project has benefited from the support of many local and national champions including the Bishop of Taunton, the Mayor of Bath and chairman of the National Trust, Sir Simon Jenkins.
The bells will be hung in the tower during February 2015 and Christ Church would be delighted to hear from anyone who would be interested in ringing as part of the new tower band, including beginners, as full training will be available.
Further details of the project and ways to support the appeal for the remaining portion of required funding can be found on the church website: www.christchurchbath.org.
