THE region’s oldest set of church bells will be carefully removed for refurbishment this week.

Experts will begin the painstaking process of removing the 300-year-old bells from the tower of St Nicholas’ Church, high above Durham’s Market Place, today.

The process could take several days.

But once it is completed, the copper and tin bells, which each weigh between 200kg and 500kg, will be transported to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, in London – the same foundry where James Bartlett crafted them all those years ago – for renovation.

They will be cleaned before being returned and reinstalled with a new steel frame, wooden wheels and pulleys in three to four months’ time.

The project will cost £90,000 – money generated through community events, donations, a Lottery grant and the efforts of a small group of bell ringers, who reached their fundraising target last April.

Bell ringer Dorothy Nicholas said: “It’s a very exciting time, if a bit daunting.

It’s hard to grasp it’s finally coming to fruition.”

Each of the five 17th Century bells is stamped with the title of James II. A sixth was cast by J Warner, of London, in 1889.

Having been silent through the Eighties and Nineties, repairs were carried out so they could be sounded again in 2000.

But ringers accepted that a more far-reaching renovation was required.

Along with their fundraising efforts, the ringers have undertaken an education programme teaching people about the bells.

There have been exhibitions, school assemblies and talks. Cestria Flower Club, from Chester-le-Street, even created a flower arrangement inspired by the campaign.

John Lumsden, one of the ringers, delved into the County Record Office archives to trace the history of the bells.

Last summer, a miniature set of bells from the Black Bull pub, in Frosterley, were transported to Durham Market Place so aspiring ringers could try their hand at the skill.

The bells will be lowered down the tower as far as a side window, through which they will be passed for loading onto transport.

They cannot be lowered all the way down the tower as the porch has a stone roof.

Scaffolding for the work went up around St Nicholas’ Church at the end of last week.