Church bells over 200 years old have been replaced after one cracked.

Two of the twelve bells in Waltham Abbey Church, which date from 1806, were replaced after one bell cracked earlier this year.

On Easter Sunday the seventh bell cracked, causing it to lose its tone stopping it from ringing properly.

Professional advice was taken, and it was decided that both the sixth and seventh bells would be replaced as there was a strong likelihood that the sixth could also crack at any time.

The church decided that Taylor’s Bell Foundry in Loughborough should recast the bells.

Epping Forest Guardian:

On October 21 and 22, a group of volunteers, under the direction of Andrew Mills, the bellhanger from Taylor’s, dismantled the bell fittings and lowered the bells through hatches in three floors of the tower to the church porch.

On October 23 they were loaded on a lorry and transported to Taylor’s foundry where they will be recast on November 28.

Epping Forest Guardian: