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Olney Bells Appeal |
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| The parish church of St.Peter & St.Paul and the town of Olney are synonymous with the names of Newton and Cowper. John Newton, former slave ship captain and then anti-slavery evangelist was curate here from 1764 to 1779 and wrote the world famous hymn Amazing Grace during this period. 2007 saw the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which was the culmination of the friendship and association between John Newton and William Wilberforce. The 21st. December 2007 was also the bicentenary of the death of John Newton in 1807. His friend William Cowper, the poet, lived here between 1768 and 1786 and in association with John Newton wrote the Olney Hymns which were published in 1779. In addition two of the bells, including the 25 cwt. tenor bell, were cast in 1682 and so were 325 years old last year. |
The year 2007 was therefore of great significance for the church and town of Olney and it is fitting that this major appeal for the refurbishment and augmentation of the famous bells was launched in that year. |
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| The Project |
The proposed project is to have the existing eight bells retuned and rehung with all new fittings in a new steel frame for ten bells. At the same time it is planned to augment the ring to a ring of ten bells with the casting of two new trebles. The project will involve opening up the trap doors in between the bells and the floor of the church and lowering the bells for transportation to the bell foundry for retuning. The massive wooden frame will then be removed and lowered for disposal. New steel foundation beams will then be fixed into new openings in the internal stonework upon which the new steel frame will sit. Following the tuning of the eight bells and casting of the two new ones they will then be raised back into the belfry and hung with all new fittings in the new frame |
Prior to the bells leaving the workshop of the bellhangers, the new frame, the bells and all the new fittings will be
assembled and tested. This also provides an opportunity for those benefactors who may not be able to
visit the belfry once the bells are back in the tower to see what the appeal has paid for at first hand. The photograph shows the new ring of ten bells for St. Helen's Abingdon assembled in the workshop of Whites of Appleton. |
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The new ring of ten bells at Olney will provide a unique training environment in the North Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes area and will enable the teaching and development of much younger bellringers. The project is therefore aimed at preserving the heritage of the bells themselves in fully working condition as well as providing new ringers to continue the heritage of English style bell ringing for decades to come. |
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| Today |
The last major work on the bells was in 1931 when the bells were rehung with part new fixtures and fittings but still in the original wooden frame. Now some 77 years later the fixtures and fittings, the wooden wheels, bearings, headstocks, pulley blocks and clappers, are in a state requiring complete replacement. In addition the wooden frame in which the bells hang and which has been built up over the centuries requires replacement as the massive 24 inch square oak foundation beams are rotting where they sit in the stonework. |
All of these issues result in a set of bells which are very hard going, are difficult to ring and most importantly are virtually impossible to teach new ringers on especially those in their formative years between 11 and 17 years of age. |
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| Seventh Bell cast in 1733 |
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Tenor Bell cast in 1682 |
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| The Appeal |
| Olney Update |
The Appeal was well and truly launched on Saturday 27th October by the Rt. Revd. Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham. After the opening, cheques totalling £13,150 were handed over being an anonymous donation of £5,000, an amount of £6,150 from the Soul family of Olney in sponsorship of the new treble bell and in memory of Bob Soul and a cheque from the Olney Belfry Fund for £2,000 (that is a lot of 'free' weddings from the Band). An excellent start. |
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The total cost of the proposed works is £115,000 of which a certain amount will be available in the form of grant aid from various organisations and charities. This leaves an amount of just over £57,000 to be raised from organised events, gifts, donations, sponsorship, etc.. The project has been designed to be self supporting in that no call has been made on existing church funds. |
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