Christ Church spire and bells

Christ Church, Healey

After spending many weeks hidden behind shrouds last year, the renovated spire of Christ Church, Healey now reveals itself in all its glory.

Recent months have seen much activity in and around this old gothic church, as it slowly shakes off years of creeping degeneration.

Funding for the work comes from many sources, not least of which are the efforts of an enthusiastic congregation, plus support and donations from people in and around the parish.

Without the generosity of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Viridor Credits, and the Lancashire Association of Bell Ringers, amongst others, there is no doubt that the whole project would still be a long way back down the road from where it now stands.

There is still much work to be done. During work on the spire, serious decay within the timbers of the bell frame came to light.

Three tons of bell metal cannot reasonably be allowed to remain hanging from rotting oak beams for very long, so it was decided that the bells would have to come down.

Christ Church has a peal of six bells. Cast in Loughborough, by John Taylor & Co, they were first heard ringing out on the morning of Easter Sunday 1870. Except for brief, wartime, sojourns they have been pealing out the long and busy life of the church and parish ever since.

On 3 April this year work will begin on lowering the bells to the ground, as a precursor to replacing the hundred and forty-six-year-old frame.

All six bells, each weighing between 372kgm and 803kgm will be transported back to the John Taylor Bell Foundry from whence they came. There they will be restored and re-tuned, before being mounted on a new steel frame and re-hung in the church bell tower, in readiness for the first ring of the bells.

This whole process is a delicate and rare event. Even more so in an era in which old churches are more likely to be demolished, or converted to some other use, than be restored to their former glory. It is an event unlikely to be witnessed again in Rochdale for some considerable time, and one that will be recorded and archived by Rochdale Online for future generations to see.