Oxhey, Herts.

[Mike Chester <mike@m...>]

--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, "David & Mary Kelly" 
<bells at k...> wrote:
> It has been suggested that Oxhey bells have been rehung for chiming-
only sometime within the last few years. Can anyone confirm this and 
a year when it happened would be useful. Towebase and Dove still have 
them listed as a ringing peal.
> 
> If they are now hung as a chime then I will add them to the "lost 
rings" list.
> 
> Many thanks
> Dave

The church website is not quite clear, though the suggestion is that 
they remain unringable.

It says

The Bells
Warner and Sons of London cast the peal of eight bells, from treble 
to tenor, which was dedicated on the 18th June 1887 to mark Queen 
Victoria's Jubilee. The total weight of bells is roughly two tons. 
They are inscribed with the opening words of the Gloria. There is 
another much smaller bell, rung during communion, that came from 
Oxhey Chapel.

Over the years, the movements of the bells, in a tower not properly 
designed for them, has bowed and weakened the structure and they 
cannot now be swung safely. Instead, the bells have been fitted with 
external hammers that are connected to a simple carillion. So the 
bells still sound, but now only the hammers move, not the bells, or 
the bell tower. And yes, we do have bats in our belfry!

Mike