New lease of life for bells

Peter Berry, clock winder and appeal organiser, and Rob Newton, parish councillor, went to the historic Whitechapel Foundry when the job was done and were fascinated to learn they were watching the very same process in the very same room where Framfield's bells were last recast in 1779.

First the treble bell was melted down along with others from Sydney, Australia, and from Somerset, then new metals and horse dung were added before the mixture was poured into moulds to make the new bell.

The thing that struck both Framfield men, they said afterwards, was a sense of history, for in that new mixture was a trace of previous Framfield bells because nothing is ever thrown away in the melting down and recasting process.

Mr Berry took on responsibility for winding the Framfield church clock about four years ago. Before him it was wound by his father and he can remember as a child climbing the tower which he now climbs once a week to keep the clock ticking.

The bells were declared unsafe about two years ago and Mr Berry missed hearing them ring out so earlier this year decided to launch an appeal for funds to have the treble recast and the tenor repaired suggesting that could also be a good way of commemorating the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

About 9,000 of the 10,000 target has been raised, mainly through small donations but including 2,000 from the parish council.

'I thought people might want to contribute because the bells are part of the fabric of the parish and the response has been very good,' said Mr Berry. They are due to be brought back to Framfield on Tuesday.

Framfields bells have had a chequered past. In 1509, three hundred years after the church was built, there was a fire in the roof and steeple which also resulted in the destruction of the tower.

Then in 1667 a new tower collapsed and the bells lay at the back of the church for the next 100 years.

In 1775 five bells were recorded cracked and fragmented still on the church floor. Then in 1779 the present two bells were recast two others were sold to Rotherfield and East Grinstead but at this stage there was still no tower for them to hang in.

Finally in 1892 they, and the clock, were installed in the new tower which remains their home.