Bells at Burnham-On-Sea’s St Andrew’s Church are back in full swing after major repair works this month.
Work has been completed in the familiar bell tower this month in time to ring at a wedding over the weekend and for this Spring’s Jubilee celebrations.
Isaac O’Shea from church bellhangers O’Shea Engineering explains: “The main bearing to the second main bell had failed and so major work has been underway to replace it.”
He adds: “It’s not been an easy job when you consider that the bell is over 350kg in weight and is hung in the tight confines of the bell tower.”
“One of the bellringers noticed a lot of vibrating and found that ringing it had been hard work which was gradually getting worse over time.”
“After investigation, it was decided to replace the bell’s bearing, which dates back to 1901. It had become rusty and weakened over time.”
“The bell was taken out of service and was then slowly lifted off its frame using strops attached to the bell chambers and roof beams. This allowed me to replace the main bearing.”
The bell was brought back into service on Saturday (April 23rd) in time to ring at the end of a wedding in the church.
