Bell Installation Committee

SACR is helping to find new homes for two historic sets of bells that have been acquired from churches in the West of Scotland. The churches are St. George's North Church, Greenock and Mount Zion Church, Quarriers Village, Bridge of Weir. In total, 22 bells are involved and they have been removed from the churches and placed into safe storage with help from the Keltek Trust. SACR is seeking churches in Scotland that could accommodate some or all of these bells.

To help in this task, we have formed a special committee called the "New Bell Installation Committee". This is being led by Chris Frye and current members are Bob Hancock, Terry Williams, George Cringles and Peter Whyatt. The main contact for the committee is Chris Frye (master@sacr.org).

As of January 2009 the first part of the project has been completed. We have 3 projects at churches in Scotland where we hope that 14 of the 22 available bells will be used. It is hoped that these bells will form the basis for one ring of 8 and two rings of 6. The churches involved are currently at various stages in the decision-making process for how the bells could be installed in their particular buildings. The projects have not yet proceeded to the launch of fund-raising and the commissioning of work, but we are hopeful that might happen in the coming months (first half of 2009). As soon as there is any definite news then an announcement will be made.

The remaining 8 bells have been released by SACR and are available for use outwith Scotland via the normal bell allocation processes of the Keltek Trust. All of the bells acquired by the Keltek Trust are now listed on their website in their "Available Bells" pages. The bells from Greenock are listed under reference 06119 and those from Quarriers Village under code 06012.

The majority of the bells that became available in 2007 have now been allocated to projects, but there are still further rings of bells that are, unfortunately, becoming available from redundant churches in the UK. If any church, congregation or individual in Scotland is interested in having a preliminary discussion about locating second-hand bells then do make contact with the master of SACR as per the contact details above. Alternatively, the Keltek Trust can be contacted. We would also be pleased to assist with advice regarding the installation of rings of bells based upon newly cast bells, whether for the immediate future or for future reference.

For more details of the current project, a project outline document from 2007 is still available to view (also available as a PDF). For more details of the Greenock and Quarriers Village bells, a listing of bell details can be consulted along with photos of some of the bells. As stated above, the Keltek Trust website also has the bells listed.

Below is a photo of the bells leaving Quarriers Village on a lorry. Note that all of the bells are not visible because some are nested inside the larger ones.