[Bell Historians] Fire at St Mary's Chatham

[Sue Marsden]

On 15 August 2011 14:35, Douglas Davis <dougdavis22 at CK0Q6RtTxkX6xvCcF-rUOfOqfaWYeZATYce_wg7z1qwBvdddRqP-uonkh1_-GbtqPjUrtldDEBRabGHDGfFj1Ge1Qg.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
>
>
> On 15 August 2011 14:27, Dickon Love <dickon at fq_ZEeJpUFREJgFsDrj7m2fl6r3kvPPJ1EdFTvL7u5VNSKzXSRBVOUzfoE0cXqSepJrBx8auDkvGJOak.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
> 'Judging by the report and pictures, the tower, which is virtually detached, looks unscathed'
>
> The fire was apparently in the roof of the porch that connects the main building to the tower.  I've been in contact with the tower correspondent today and he has been and done an initial visual inspection, and tower and bells appear to be in tact and unharmed.  It is currently not known however if the ringing chamber floor has been affected by the fire, so until such time as safety can be guaranteed ringing is suspended.
>
> Regards,
> Doug.

The newspaper report says it is 'derelict'. From what I could see it
looked in fairly good repair- have the reports got it wrong?
SEM