Surveyors to St Paul’s say the condition of the bells has deteriorated and urgent action and £360,000 is required to keep them ringing, and in a worst-case scenario they could drop from their supports, according to a report in The Evening Standard.
The bells are rung three times every Sunday and on national occasions. The bells have only been silenced in wartime. The cost of the work has been estimated at £30,000 per bell.
When the repairs are complete, sponsors will have their names inscribed on a donor board to be installed in the ringing room in the north-west tower. So far, the cathedral has received commitments totalling £268,000.
The City of London Corporation is set to make a £30,000 contribution to repair the heaviest bell, which it donated in 1878. Nick Bodger, the Corporation’s head of cultural and visitor development, said: ‘St Paul’s Cathedral is an iconic symbol of the City’s skyline, and plays a pivotal role in positioning the City as a strategically important location within London and the UK. Its bells are integral to this positioning. Without them, the City’s standing as a place of celebration and commemoration, and as a world city with international resonance, may be diminished.’
The bells will be cleaned and restored at the foundry in Loughborough where they were originally cast.The smallest will be re-hung on modern metal headstocks and The re-hang will refurbish and equip the great St Paul’s Cathedral ring for the next 100 years.
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