Church Bell — HOLY TRINITY HOTWELLS

Holy Trinity Church Clock Bell

Update: 03/01/21

In response to a number of complaints we have installed a mechanism that enables our clock bell to ring on the hour through the day but be silenced at night. Since the start of December we have arranged for the last chimes of the day to ring at midnight and the first chimes to ring at 6am. A number of people, while welcoming the change, have said they continue to be disturbed by the chimes at midnight and 6am (and some by the chimes at 11pm). We are therefore arranging for the last chimes of the day to ring at 10pm and the first at 7am. The change will be made by our specialist clock contractor at the same time as the change to reflect British Summer Time that begins on Sunday 28 March. This will then align the hours of ringing with those of Great George bell in the Wills Building tower. We recognise there remain different views on the issue but hope that this adjustment represents a solution that fairly balances the variety of views held by members of the local community.

Update: 02/12/20

We wanted to report that we have received permission from the diocese to install a mechanism to limit the periods during which the clock bell at Holy Trinity will ring. The installation work is due to be carried out on Friday 4th December which means the clock bell will shortly be ringing the hours again, from 6am to 12 midnight.

We are very grateful for all the comments shared about the church bell and for everyone’s patience and understanding. We believe this represent the solution that most sensitively addresses and balances the variety of views expressed by members of the local community.

The Church Council has agreed to pay for this work out of this year’s budget. Several people who got in touch kindly offered to help financially and we are most grateful for these offers. If anyone wishes to make a donation to help replenish our general funds, so that this unplanned expense does not impact the services we provide to the community, you can find ways to give on our How to Give page.

Update: 20/10/20

Due to a number of complaints, the vicar and churchwardens of Holy Trinity church in Hotwells decided in August to silence the church clock bell on an interim basis whilst we investigated options including making a change to the 24 hour ringing mechanism. We are grateful to the many members of our local community who have shared their views on that temporary step via social media and messages sent directly to the church office. We have carefully listened to and considered all these views and believe this has provided a good understanding of the range of opinions across our local community.

The majority of people who expressed a view appreciated hearing the bell and have been saddened by its temporary silencing. Most of those are in favour of the bell ringing on a 24 hour basis, while others recognise that some limitation of the hours of ringing may be reasonable out of consideration for neighbours who hold different views. Several people (including but not limited to those who had previously made complaints) confirmed they were disturbed by the bell at night and have expressed appreciation for not hearing it through the night in recent weeks. These include people who have been members of the Hotwells community for several years.

We have sought and obtained advice and quotes from specialist church clock contractors and carefully assessed the different potential options available. Subject to approval of the diocese we intend shortly to install a mechanism that will enable the bell to ring through the day but be silenced at night between the hours of midnight and 6am. We believe this will represent the solution that most sensitively addresses and balances the variety of views expressed by members of the local community. We are very grateful to all those who have offered to help the church pay for this work and will provide another update with details of how anyone who wishes to contribute in this way may do so once the work is scheduled and we can advise when the new bell ringing pattern will commence.

Notice Published 18th August 2020.

Due to a number of recent complaints, the vicar and churchwardens of Holy Trinity church in Hotwells have decided to silence the church clock bell on an interim basis whilst the PCC (Parochial Church Council) investigates options, including making a change to the 24-hour ringing mechanism. The cost of adjusting the existing mechanism for the bell to ring for only part of the day would not be inconsiderable and if this step is taken we'd welcome contributions towards this cost from the local community. We sympathise with members of the local community who may be having problems sleeping and we hope that this interim measure will go some way to improve this. We also know that some members of the community will be saddened by the interim silencing of the bell, particularly during the day (the current striking mechanism only allows us to operate throughout the day and night or not at all) and we really hope that the community can help us reach a solution that will work for everyone.

Holy Trinity PCC.