The chimes of a cherished County Durham village church clock will soon be ringing out again after a campaign to restore them won the backing of a regional employer.
The electronic chimes of the turret clock at St Mary’s Church in West Rainton have rung out every quarter hour between 8am and 945pm for over 20 years, with special chimes also played to mark weddings and funerals being held in the church.
Earlier this year, the chimes started to go off erratically, including at various times through the night, and after investigations were carried out into the problem with the mechanism, it was decided they should be silenced to prevent further disturbance to residents’ sleep.
A fundraising campaign was launched to raise the £4,700 it was estimated was required to carry out the necessary repairs.
A £2,000 grant from the Banks Group’s Banks Community Fund has now taken the campaign past its target, and campaign organisers are hopeful that the clock chimes will be ringing out once again early in the new year.
The clock is set to be serviced by a specialist repair business in Cumbria, with the chiming mechanism being removed and restored before being reinstalled and restarted.
St Mary’s Church, which is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year, is currently undergoing a major programme of work to repair and repoint the stone walls, which will help to safeguard the building’s long-term future.
Plans are also in place to carry out repairs to the church roof and to restore its organ when the required funding becomes available.
Annabel Burns, secretary of the parochial church council at St Mary’s Church, says: “The chimes of the church clock have been part of the fabric of our village for many years and they’ve always helped local people keep their days on track.
“The community is really missing them and we’ve had lots of questions from residents about when they might be coming back.
“The work required to repair them is very specialised and therefore comes at a significant cost, but with all the other restoration work that’s ongoing and planned at St Mary’s, we simply didn’t have the money in the bank to pay for it straight away.
“The support we’ve received from the Banks Community Fund was a huge boost to our campaign and has helped us hit our fundraising target much sooner than we expected.
“Hearing the clock chimes ring out again across the village will be a fantastic way for us to start the new year and we’re hugely grateful to the Banks Group for making this possible.”
Banks Homes is currently building 150 high specification new homes at its Cathedral Meadows development on Station Road in West Rainton, a scheme which will also include a new play area, new landscaped areas and new areas of public open space.
Kate Culverhouse, community relations manager at the Banks Group, adds: “The loss of the West Rainton clock chimes really demonstrates just how much people miss things that are part of their everyday lives when they’re no longer there.
“We’re very pleased to be supporting such a worthwhile community cause and look forward to hearing the results of it sounding across West Rainton in the near future.”
Anyone from a community close to a Banks Group project who is interested in applying for funding from the Banks Community Fund should contact the company via its website enquiry form (www.banksgroup.co.uk/contact-us/) to find out if their group or project is eligible.