After sitting silent for more than 150 years, a Somerset church bell is ringing again – in an Australian wedding chapel.
The bell, which dates from about 1550, once rang worshippers to church at Upton village and is now Australia’s oldest ringing church bell.
Cherie Reid, who built the wedding chapel at Kantara House in Green Point, New South Wales, said she rescued the bell from disrepair to install it 9,500 miles away from its original home.
“The whole journey [to buy the bell] has just been so wonderful. I do feel a bit of pride about the end result,” Ms Reid said.
When the original 14th Century church of St James in Exmoor National Park was replaced in 1870, it was built without a bell tower.
Its two ancient bells sat silent until being sold on – one to Australia and one to St Mary Magdalene Church at Sandringham.
Ms Reid rings the bell at the end of wedding services at its New South Wales home.
She said it had been difficult to source a bell in Australia.
“Most of them are for schools and there’s nothing of the calibre of the one I sourced in the UK,” she said.
After finding the bell from Somerset, she had to fly to the UK to pick it up and ended up having to chase it to Cork in Ireland, where it was refurbished.
“I was a little concerned because the bell looked huge,” Ms Reid said.
It went to Australia by plane in 2016.
“After picking it up, we hid it in the garage so it wouldn’t be stolen,” Ms Reid said.
“I only realised recently – who was going to steal it? It was too big.”
Eventually, they used a crane to take the roof of the tower off, put the bell in, and put the roof back on.
Karina Reid, Cherie Reid’s daughter, said it was “incredible” to hear the bell ringing.
“I remember the first time we rang the bell, it was the end of such a process and I truly thought my mum was mad importing a bell from the UK to put in her tower,” she said.
“I didn’t really see how important it would be. From the first moment I heard it ringing I knew the chapel would not be what it is without the beautiful bell.
“We have a piece of England’s history ringing in our chapel.”
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