Last updated at 22:39, Thursday, 14 June 2012

A church bell which had chimed in Harrington for over 300 years can now ring freely once again following restoration work.

SOUND AS A BELL: The bell at St Mary’s Church, Harrington, has been restored, from left: church warden Charles Murray, bell ringer Eric Martin and church warden Ian Smith

The bell at St Mary’s Church had seized up over the last few years and had become difficult to ring.

Church warden Ian Smith, Eric Martin, a bell ringer and church warden at St Michael’s in Workington, and Ronald East, bell advisor to the Cumbria Diocese, carried out maintenance work on the bell last Wednesday.

Mr Martin said: “It is a historic bell. The people of Harrington now have a bell to be proud of and one that should give them many more years of faithful service by proclaiming good news.”

They were encouraged to carry out the restoration by The Venerable Dr Richard Pratt, the Archdeacon of West Cumbria, who likes to ring the bell every time he visits the church.

It will be used to ring in the church’s new vicar, the Rev Julia Powley, when she arrives on July 12.

It is also used for Sunday and Thursday services, weddings and funerals.

It is believed that metal for it came from a bell in Furness Abbey, which was destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries.

The old bell was melted down and recast in Harrington in 1674.

It is 31 inches in diameter and weighs a quarter of a ton. It is held up by a metal frame made at Workington Iron and Steel Works in 1906.

Jean Berwick, a member of the Harrington congregation, has been attending St Michael’s church for the past 12 months to learn how to ring a church bell in preparation for its restoration.

First published at 19:24, Thursday, 14 June 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk