HISTORIC bells have been removed from a Richmond bell tower to make way for new ones to be installed in May.

The tower at St Mary’s Church, Richmond, has also been prepared with the removal of some key timbers from the 1894 frame to make way for a new steel structure, and has also been drawn by bell frame expert and historian Chris Pickford.

The group of passionate bellringers from the church raised more than £160,000 for the new bells and tower in just over 12 months.

The new bells have been specially designed to hang on one level in the tower making them much easier to ring and safeguarding the structure of the 14th century tower.

Liz Foster, who leads a local history group researching the history of bells and bellringing at Richmond, said: “Bells were removed one by one from the tower in preparation for them to go on display.

“This is the first time any of the bells have been out of the tower since they were refurbished in 1920s.

“Each bell was winched slowly down through two hatchways from the bell chamber into the bellringing room and then through a hatch in the roof of the baptistry into the west end of the church nave.”

The bells were taken to a foundry at Loughborough before five are returned to St Mary’s for permanent display, while the deepest pitched and heaviest bell is set to go to a church in India, and the two highest pitched bells will go on to other churches in the UK to be used again.

Ms Foster added: “We are now setting about installing the first of the new steel frame pieces for the eight new bells, and the display platform for the five historic bells. “We expect the bells to be installed in May after a dedication on Tuesday, April 25 by Bishop James Bell.”