St Andrew’s Church bells road to restoration from Walkerville to the UK
The 134-year-old bells from a Walkerville church have travelled more than 16,000km for repairs and are now back on Australian soil. However, money is still needed to finish off the $700,000 project.
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Church bells more than a century-old sent to England for repairs are back on Australian soil, marking the final stages of a $700,000 restoration project of a Walkerville church.
However, St Andrew’s Anglican Church still needs to raise about $100,000 for a crane to reinstall the bells by the end of the month.
Reverend Sam Goodes said the bells were shipped to Taylors of Loughborough for refurbishment in September 2019.
The church received the bells, currently in storage, last Wednesday.
“Basically, most of the problems with the bells were with the frame … we are talking about English Oak at least 130 years old that was starting to crack and wear, while other components of the bell were starting to wear out too,” Mr Goodes said.
“There was no where in Australia that had the necessary skills and resources to do the restoration work so they had to be sent to the UK to get fixed.
“Now there is a whole new frame made of cast iron and we’ll have to do a lot less maintenance.”
A parishioner donated $400,000 towards the project while a further $200,000 was raised by the congregation.
Walkerville Council contributed a further $25,000.
The $100,000 still required would also cover the installation of a flag pole at the top of the tower.
The church would have to consider taking out a loan if money cannot be raised.
The $700,000 also covered construction of a spiral staircase to replace vertical ladders in the internal tower, improving access to the bell chamber.
The clock on the tower was removed and refurbished locally by Graham Townsin of Clockmasters in Semaphore.
Mr Goodes said refurbishing the bell tower and bells had been on the cards for about 15 years.
“It is so good what has been done compared to how they looked when they went in the shipping container 12 months ago,” Mr Goodes said.
The bells chime every Sunday, as well as at weddings and civic events.
St Andrew’s Anglican Church was consecrated in August 1848 and is one of the earliest churches built outside the Adelaide parklands.
The bell tower was built in 1886 with Tapley’s Hill sandstone and brick dressings, at a cost of 884 pounds.
The church, on Church Tce and Fuller St, is on the State Heritage Register.
To donate to the appeal visit standrewswalkerville.org.au