The Friends of Capel Church recently commissioned a survey of the church bell, which was originally installed in 1670. Although the bell was found to be in very good condition, the fittings are worn and in need of total replacement. The survey by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry suggested complete replacement, at a cost of almost £10,000 including VAT - quotation.

The Annual General Meeting of the Friends endorsed an appeal to fund the work, which will be launched at a Garden Party on the afternoon of Sunday, 5th June, 2 pm, at “Verona”, Five Oak Green Road, TN12 6TJ. As on the 1st August we shall celebrate twenty-five years of care of the church by the Churches Conservation Trust, this will be a fund raising silver jubilee celebration.  We do hope that all of you will feel able to attend and will give generously to both the cake table and the raffle.

Patricia Gregory has again offered to arrange a Flower Festival in July on the theme of “Festivals”  The Friends plan an arrangement on the theme of St. Thomas a Becket (29th December). If there is anyone who is skilled at flower arranging, please get in touch. We have been offered the altar for our display and are anxious that it should compare well with the stunning arrangements that we know we can look forward to from other clubs and societies taking part.

Annual General Meeting

The first Annual General Meeting of the Friends was held on 21st February and was well attended. We were disappointed that Crispin Truman of the Churches Conservation Trust was unable to attend at the last minute but he did send us a message explaining that government cuts mean that work carried out by the Friends’ groups (whether physical or fund raising) is ever more important.  This message was re-iterated by John Vigar, the area manager.

The chairman said that the group had “hit the ground running” and much had been achieved in the first year.  The committee has been pleasantly surprised by the number of visitors at the church over the winter justifying our efforts to keep it open throughout the year and he thanked the key holders for their dedication even in the worst of weathers.  The survey of the bell was presented to the meeting, and although we are told that we can continue to ring the bell, there is much that needs to be done if we wish to ensure that this will still be the case in the future. In all, this will cost just under £10,000. Those members present felt that the bell was an important part of the history of the church (cast in 1670) and agreed to concentrate our fund raising efforts towards getting this work done as quickly as possible.