The Bells of St. Nicholas Church, Durham
Click here to download our "Bells at St Nic's" PDF document.
Although the church building is only 150 years old, the bells go back much further than that, five of them having been transferred from the previous church on the site.
There are 6 bells, tenor 10-0-18 in G#. The back five were cast in 1687 during the reign of James 2 nd by James Bartlett of Whitechapel; each carries the inscription Regno Augustissimi Jacobi Secundi and these are thought to be the oldest ring of bells in the North-east. The treble was cast by J Warner of London in 1889 and the six hang in a wooden frame by Mallory of Masham.
After hanging silent between the mid-seventies and 1999, when there was no ringing at all, some basic maintenance was undertaken by local ringers and friends; this was sufficient to make St Nic's bells safe to ring again. For the past seven years Sunday service ringing and fortnightly practices have taken place.
Now, however, the age of the frame and fittings is showing, and the bells themselves need attention. The St Nicholas Church Bell Restoration Fund are looking forward to doing a good restoration job that will ensure their safe and tuneful future for the next decades. The work will cost in the region of £70,000. Through various events and donations we raised around £20,000 ourselves and then 2 months ago, Heritage Lottery approved our appeal for funding with generous support amounting to over £49,000. Thus it is hoped that the work of removing the bells from the tower will begin later in the year; they will be taken to Whitechapel Foundry in London and the work will take around 3 months before they are returned.
We are embarking on a programme of informing and involving the local community about the project and the rich heritage which these bells represent. School and community visits and talks will be given and there will be a display in Clayport Library for the month of September. On Saturday August 30th we hope to hold a Taster Day when a ring of small (tower) bells from the Black Bull in Frosterly will be erected in the Market Square; full-circle bell ringing will be demonstrated and there will be information and events in St Nicholas' Church.
We hope to mention other events on this site later on.
Ringing Times
Sundays 10.30am (during school term time) 11.00am (during school vacations)
Practices; 1st , 3rd and 5th Wednesdays – 7.30 – 9.00pm
Contact; Dorothy Nicholas – e-mail kendor.32@btinternet.com
Children from Cheveley Park School learning to ring hand bells during a visit by the Bell Ringers. (Photo courtesy of Durham Advertiser)
Sale items include:
tea towels (£4.00);
notelets (£1.20), fridge magnets (80p), personalised magnets (£1.50). We regret that our mugs have sold out.