After an extensive fundraising effort and seven months of hard work, the new bells of Christ Church on Julian Road in Bath are ready to be rung for the first time.
They will be rung at full strength for the first time before a special service to celebrate completion of the project at 10am on Sunday 22nd February.
This will also be a fitting way to mark Canon Angela Townshend’s last service as priest-in-charge of Christ Church, as she was one of the driving forces behind the work.
The project to restore the bells to working order included a number of measures to control and direct the sound of the bells upwards, to avoid disturbance to the church’s neighbours.
Recent tests by the Environmental Health Department of BANES Council have confirmed the success of this work, as the volume of the bells at street level was measured at 75 decibels, approximately as loud as a vacuum cleaner.
The new sound control measures also allow the volume to be reduced still further during practices, to a measured level of 60 decibels.
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 regular bell ringing gradually lessened after the First World War as the peal became too difficult to ring.
The restoration project was led by Ian Hay Davison and 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.
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 small remaining portion of required funding can be found on the church website: www.christchurchbath.org.
