THE PRIORY bells will be ringing again at Christmas after work to re-install them in Great Malvern Priory began.
In February, eight bells were taken from the church for the first time in 150 years, so they could be retuned and vital work carried out on the frame in the bell chamber.
And on Monday (September 28) large steel frames arrived at the Church Street site to be installed in the chamber. The process should take about eight weeks before the bells, which have been ringing since the 16th century, can be reinstalled.
Whitechapel in London were commissioned to undertake the work and were also asked to make two new bells as part of the £240,000 project.
Trevor Still, project organiser and fund-raiser, told The Observer: “The bells have been ringing here since the 16th century and we didn’t want it to die out so we had to do something about it.
“It has taken over my life but it has been absolutely worth it.
“The Priory would have stopped ringing had this not been done but when you hear the new bells finally ringing they will sound pretty good up there.”
The fund-raising project saw £90,200 given from the Heritage Lottery Fund, a £20,000 donation from an anonymous resident, £25,000 from Friends of Malvern Priory and £10,000 from Severn Waste Environmental Fund.
The group has now reached its target goal after a £7,000 donation from two Malvern residents who passed away and left the money in their will to the cause.
