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The Peal Appeal Committee is delighted to announce that the appeal for £80 000 to restore the bells has been reached and the restoration is complete. The Committee would like to thank our many friends and donors for their generous support which has meant that the fund raising has been completed in just over two years. The bells are now in excellent condition and are being rung on a regular basis for services and by ringers from all over the place. A new record has also been set on the bells. This was achieved by a very experienced band of six ringers on 14th December 22004 who rang a peal of 10800 changes without stopping, in 6 hours and 50 minutes, which is a new record in Tibenham, the County and the UK. We are very proud of their achievement. The Barron Bell Trust have also donated £2000 so that the all of the bells can now have wrought iron clappers.
The restoration work on the bells is nearly finished, thanks in part to the generous donation of £31,500 from National Lottery Heritage Fund. The bells are completely ready. The bell frame is being constructed locally and the builders are busy in the tower getting the preliminary work done to allow the bell frame to be put in. The contract is due to be finished by the beginning of May. At some time in April, the bells will come back to the village. Before the bells are put back into the Tower the Rector will hold a ceremony of hallowing them with the children from our local schools. Re-dedication
Service This page charts the progress of the restoration. Our original ambitious schedule has been set back by the need to wait for the completion of fundraising before we can sign a contract for the restoration work. Also, it has now been decided that the original wooden bellframe, whilst historically significant and protected, is not suitable for bearing the new bells. Therefore, after much heartsearching and consultation, we have decided to install a new metal bell frame to hang the bells in. The Restoration Committee have decided to set the date for the re-dedication of the bells as May 31st 2003 with the Bishop of Norwich conducting the service. So it is all out now to get the funding in to get the work done. We take the bells down in September, and the builders come on site in November with a finish of February/March. This is what we have planned in any case. We hope that some of our US friends will be able to make the trip over to join in the celebration. 2003 is a celebration for Tibenham as an anniversary: 1913 was the year that the Tibenham Band first rang Spliced Surprise - the first band in Norfolk to do so - so this peal will be rung at the service.
Last Edited : 11/04/05 Schedule (As prepared by the Diocesan Architects)
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