A village will be without the sound of church bells for the first time in 114 years after they were removed for a £50,000 revamp.

The tower at St Michael and All Angels Church in Marden will remain silent until their return just before Christmas.

They have been rung since the early 1900s but wear and tear to the tolling mechanisms have led to the need for action to ensure their use for future generations.

The Rev Nicky Harvey said: “It needed to be done because if we didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to ring within the next five to 10 years.

“The bells have been ringing without maintenance, except oil, since 1909 but now it will be eerily quiet, and the clock won’t strike as there are no bells to ring.

“They’re getting new bearings, new ropes, clapper pulley boxes, but the bells themselves will be cleaned and re-tuned.”

The eight bells – with the heaviest weighing in at 725kg – were removed using a series of pulley systems lifting them from their frames before lowering them through a hatch in the centre of the tower via a motorised hoist.

The tenor bell, which is the largest, caused the most issues, needing to be manoeuvred and lowered slowly to ensure it made it through the hole.

Once they were all out they were loaded onto a lorry and driven to Nicholson Engineering in Bridport, Dorset, for their overhaul.

Talks of the refurbishment began in 2019, before Nicky’s incumbency, but plans were delayed due to the pandemic.

The church raised the necessary funds through donations and fundraising at village events.

Nicky continued: “We timed it so the bells came out just after our last wedding on September 29 and we’re hoping for them to be back by the end of November, the beginning of December.

“People are used to hearing them on practice nights or for events like the King’s coronation so they’re fairly integral to village life.

“We have an active tower, and we practice on Thursday nights. Our youngest ringer is 10 and they go up to people in their 80s but now we will be visiting other towers and convening with other groups.

“Part of the refurbishment is to make them easier to ring so we can hopefully get some new members.

“Being a bell ringer myself we wanted to make sure the bells could be rung for another 100 years.”

There were six bells until the beginning of the 20th century, the oldest dating from 1693.

They were recast into a peal of eight in 1909 – most churches have just six – and housed in a frame built by Alfred Bowell.