Listen to the bells before and after restoration
The year 2001 was special for Great Milton. It had taken 14 months to raise over £40,000 to have St. Mary's Bells retuned and rehung. We commissioned Whites of Appleton in Oxfordshire to undertake the work. The Bells were removed from the tower and taken to their foundry. The rehanging took place the firstweek of November 2001.
A Service of Rededication for the Bells was held on the 24th February 2002. It was devised by our Rector, Victor Story, and conducted by the Bishop of Dorchester, the Right Reverend Colin Fletcher OBE.
The old Tenor Bell, originally 18 cwt, with large wood headstock and plain bearing, is shown in the top right photo. Photo below, number 4 and Tenor Bells showing freshly skimmed bell metal after retuning.
The retuning process has reduced the weight of all the bells, but in particular the Tenor bell, which is now about 15½ cwt - some 2½ cwt. lighter! All eight Bells have been fitted with new cast iron headstocks and roller bearings. Our Bellringing is now a more pleasurable experience!
Lowering the tone... Mr Graham Griffiths, the vice tower captain at Great Milton Church, watches as Mr Roger Stranks, left, and Mr Brian White remove the number six bell. The bell - cast in 1848 - weighs 9cwt and is being lowered, along with the remaining eight bells while Whites of Appleton refurbish them at a cost of £33,000. At the same time, the church's 302-year clock is to be restored in a £6,700 project.
Courtesy - Oxford Mail
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A coach took residents of Great Milton on an excursion to Whites on the 3rd November 2001 to see the re-furbishing process.
Afterwards there was a buffet lunch at the Plough public house in Appleton
It was a grand day out!
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