St James’ the Great, Melsonby bell restoration project
Bell Sponsorship
Thank you for taking an interest in the Melsonby Bell Restoration Project. The project offers a unique opportunity to create a lasting legacy for the village and its community. The project is very ambitious, but we have already raised more than £80,000 of the £150,000 needed to meet that ambition. We hope that you find the information below interesting and that it inspires you to sponsor a bell.
About the project
The church of St James’ the Great, Melsonby, is part of the Benefice of three churches in the Stanwick Group of Churches. Melsonby has no village hall and the church is an important hub for the community both for worship and secular events.
Four years ago a group of villagers, all non-bell ringers, formed a small band dedicated to revitalising the practice of ringing the church bells. Despite remedial maintenance being carried out in 2006 the bells had not been rung regularly for forty years. The band of bell ringers remains active, with weekly practice and rings for Sunday services, weddings and state occasions. The bell ringing band attracts a steady stream of new ringers of all ages, currently from 16 to 70. Sadly we are unable to retain many of these ringers because the bells are very challenging to ring. The bells currently hang on worn and outdated fixings and have a long un-guided draft (ie the distance between the ringer and the bells). Moreover, the church only has four bells and this severely restricts what can be taught and learnt on the bells and what can be rung by the more experienced ringers. Additionally, the four existing bells are not on a musical scale.
We have, therefore, initiated a project to install eight properly tuned bells. This will make the bells easier to ring for inexperienced ringers and much more fulfilling for the more experienced ones. We also propose to install an adjustable sound reducing system in the bell tower, so that the bells do not disturb our neighbours on practice nights. We also intend to install a new ceiling in the ringing chamber to reduce the unguided rope distance between the bells and the ringers, thereby making the bells easier to ring and balancing the sound for the ringers. The frame that will hold the new bells cannot fit into the tower without the removal of a weight chute (a wooden cupboard that houses the weights for the church clock). So, finally, we propose to remove the weight chute and automate the clock.
Financing the Project
The overall costs of the project are estimated at £152,758 as shown below:
Notes:
1. The spider crane is required to hoist the bells into position
2. The existing 1370 bell will be restored and rung via an electronic chime mechanism
3. Automation of the clock is necessary to make space for the new bell frame
4. Architectural fees include surveys, technical assessments and compliance requirements
The Parochial Church Council are fully supportive of the project but do not have the funds available to meet the project costs. At the end of 2023 the church in Melsonby had unrestricted funds of £45,540. However, due to remedial work on the heating system, the unrestricted funds at the end of 2024 are projected to be around £30,000. The church is funded entirely by donations from the community.
However, fundraising so far has been remarkable. The sum of £80,184 has already been donated or pledged as shown in the chart above.
Sponsorship
As a major part of the overall funding costs, we are offering eight bells for individual or group sponsorship. Of these four have already been taken, leaving four available for sponsorship at the time of print. Six of the bells, which date from 1870, have been acquired from the redundant church of All Saints, Woodlesford, Leeds. The sponsorship, therefore, is not specifically to cover the purchase costs of the bells, but to support the overall costs of the project, including bell refurbishment, re-tuning and installation on modern fittings.
o Description of the bells
o Two bells to be newly cast - one already sponsored
o Six bells cast by Mears & Stainbank in 1870.
§ Bell 3 with no previous inscriptions, 187Kg
§ Bell 4 with no previous inscriptions, 214Kg
§ Bell 5 with no previous inscriptions, 244Kg
§ Bell 6 with no previous inscriptions, 286Kg – already sponsored
§ Bell 7 with no previous inscriptions, 343Kg – already sponsored
§ Bell 8 bears an inscription on one side, which will be retained, referencing Lord Swillington, 432Kg – already sponsored
o What can be inscribed
§ Sponsors can choose an inscription of their choice
§ Examples of inscriptions found on bells include ‘family’ bell that record the name of the family, bells in memory of a loved one and bells that celebrate an event such a marriage or birth.
o What else will I get through sponsorship?
o A legacy – bells last for centuries, one of the existing Melsonby bells dates from 1370 and still bears the name of the sponsor!
o Access to see your bell – you will be able to show your bell to family & friends upon request or on Tower Open days held at the church
o A board will record the names of the sponsors, this will be hung in the church
o You will also be able to hear your bell, they can be heard over a considerable distance and each bell has a distinct note
o There is an open invitation to learn to ring your bell in a relaxed and welcoming environment at St James’ church or you can come along to chime your bell by pulling on the rope
o By sponsoring a bell, you are not only supporting the use of the church as a community hub but also helping to preserve part of our national heritage
o How much will sponsorship cost?
o Abell with standard inscriptions on one side is £11,000
o A bell with standard inscriptions on two sides is £12,000
o A bell shared with another sponsor with each having an inscription of one side is £6000
o The cost of sponsorship includes an inscription of up to 33 characters.
o Additional characters can be added at a cost of £45 for 10 characters
o There will be no other costs or liabilities following initial sponsorship.
o Gift Aid
If you are making a personal donation/sponsorship and are a UK tax payer (income tax and/or capital gains tax) then your donation can be Gift Aided. This will allow the Bell Project to claim an additional 25% of the value of your donation/sponsorship directly from the Government. You must pay tax in the fiscal (tax) year equal to or greater than the value of the Gift Aid claim. Therefore, if you are sponsoring a whole bell at £11,000 then you need to pay tax of at least £2,750 in the same fiscal (tax) year. If you are a higher rate tax payer then you will be able to claim back the difference between the tax you’ve paid on the donation and what the charity got back when you fill in your Self-Assessment tax return. For those donors with total net taxable income per annum of over £100,000 the effects of Gift Aid are complicated but can also be very beneficial.
o How to pay for sponsorship?
Payment can be made by a cheque made payable to ‘The PCC of Melsonby’ or via BACS using the sort code 40-52-40 and the ‘PCC of Melsonby’ account number 00010925.
o What if project doesn’t go ahead?
Sponsorship funds will be deposited in a protected bank account with funds restricted to the bell restoration project. Your sponsorship funds will not be committed until the project is undertaken. Project works projected to commence mid 2025 or such extended period thereafter as may be necessary. Project works projected to be complete in the first quarter of 2026 or such extended period thereafter as may be necessary.
o To find out more
If you would like to find out more about the project, and particularly to talk about sponsoring one of the remaining bells, please contact the project team by email at:
or call Graham Smith on 07881 022353
Thank you.
PROJECT TEAM
o Steering Team
§ David Town MBE
§ Jim Crowther
§ Peter Kirby, Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers
o Project Team
§ David Forsdike
§ Lady Houghton (Maggie)
§ Robert Kirby
§ Graham Smith
§ Frank Turnbull
§ Andrew Wilson
o Treasurer
§ Michael Carr
o Architects
§ Beaumont Brown Architects, Castle Eden.