News by email Donate

Suggestions

Top Stories

Most Read

Popular Videos

St-Peters-Church-Sandwich-main_article_image.jpg
Save the Chimes
UK News

No more church bells after neighbour's noise complaint

by Tola Mbakwe

For the last 238 years, bells at St Peter's Church in Sandwich have rung every 15 minutes between 11pm and 7am.

However, this summer a neighbour complained that the noise was disrupting their sleep.

Although a survey by a local action group called Save the Chimes found that only 15 per cent of people in the town were indifferent to or didn't like the bells, Dover District Council served the church a night-time noise abatement order.

Almost 3,500 people have signed a petition to keep the bells ringing.

In a statement, Save the Chimes called the bells the "beating heart of Sandwich".

It added: "The feeling by the vast majority of Sandwich residents is that this is the "thin end of the wedge" and if the ban is allowed to go through unchallenged, it will begin the erosion of centuries old traditions in our beautiful medieval town."

Since the church has been made redundant, The Churches Conservation Trust looks after it.

According to the BBC, the organisation has 90 days to make the changes to silence the chimes.

A spokeswoman told the BBC: "We do not have the funds or resources to facilitate an appeal.

"We have told the local campaigning group if we receive a clear mandate from the community that they will fundraise to cover the costs, we will take it forward."

A Monthly Gift Of $11 Makes A World Of Difference

In a world of fake news there’s never been a greater need for quality Christian journalism. Premier’s mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. But we can’t do it without you.

Unlike many websites we haven't put up a paywall — we want to keep our journalism free at the point of need and as open as we can. Premier’s news output takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. No one in the USA is sharing news like we are across radio, magazines and online so please help us to continue that today.

For a monthly gift of $11 or more we’d also be able to send you a free copy of the brand new Premier Bible, a wonderful Anglicised version of the NLT packed with exclusive bonus content, reading plan and resources to help you get the most out of scripture.

Your monthly support will make a world of difference. Thank you.

Support Us
Continue the conversation on our Facebook page

Related Articles

Sign up to our newsletter to stay informed with news from a Christian perspective.

News by email

Connect

Donate

Donate