The 5 bells of St Swithun’s, Great Chishill ( 4 made in 1686 and the other in 1841) fell into disuse in the 1970’s, so with the millennium approaching the community was asked to suggest an appropriate project to celebrate passing into the 2000’s. A popular vote was to get the bells ringing again so that the new millennium could be ‘rung in’ and other events could be celebrated. An appeal was launched and enough money was raised to have the bells and their fittings renovated into a ringable state, to have the frame that they are mounted in strengthened, and for a new ‘ringing floor’ created as a mezzanine level in the tower.
At that time there were not enough ringers in the village so a group of people went to other towers and learned how to ring. The millennium was duly ‘rung in’ and the expectation was that from that point onwards they would be rung occasionally for weddings, special services etc. However, 20 years later the bells almost every week.
It was always accepted that the millennium restoration was done on a limited budget and the work minimal compared with a proper full renovation. So since then the bell ringers had been raising money from subscriptions and various events with the intent of having a full restoration some day. In 2018 it was decided to investigate what needed to be done and to get quotes for the work, and in 2019 complete surveys of the bells, the frame and the tower were done and quotes came in.
On the following pages you can see the progress of the project over the months.