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The six eighteenth-century bells of St. Andrew’s, Dent, a
Grade 1 listed building, seem last to have been pealed to
celebrate the Armistice of 1918. Further use was prevented by
progressive weakening of the tower and decay of the bell frame
and fittings. In 2008 a major restoration of the church and
tower was begun, and has since been completed: English Heritage
Lottery Fund made a grant of £138,000 towards this work. In 2009
the Parochial Church Council added to the restoration project a
full overhaul of the organ and the return of the bells to
full-circle change ringing,
Restoration of the bells and the building of a new bell frame
was undertaken by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry Ltd., the same firm
which under its then name of William Mears cast the whole set
in 1787.
Funding has been by gifts from well-wishers and by grants from:
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The
Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers |
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The
Lancashire Association of Change Ringers |
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The Church
Buildings Council |
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The
Sharpe Trust |
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crucially, |
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The
Heritage Lottery Fund, the National body, has contributed £32,500, i.e. 46% of
the total costs, and has thereby enabled us to include in
the project a number of public-benefit features, such as the
involvement of Dent Church of England Primary School, whose
older children will be able to learn how to ring the bells.
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