Dear Benefactor.
Please excuse this rather formal salutation.
It is long overdue that we write to you, in order to update you on the restoration project of Nevern Church Tower and Bells, and also to Thank You for your most generous contribution.
There is no need to point out that these are not the easiest of times to be starting a construction project; however, we are glad to report that great progress has been made.
As a reminder; it was decided to restore the ancient peal of 6 bells at Nevern so that they could be rung properly for the first time in 120 years. At the same time it was necessary to restore the ancient tower in which they were hung. This restoration was necessary in any case, as unless it was done the church would probably have had to close.
It became very clear that everyone loves Nevern Church, a truly historic and holy place. St Brynach had a vision when he founded our church in 540. It has become clear that this vision continues to this day. Indeed his vision is undimmed and has widened its scope over 1500 years later.
As you will see from the following , the project has expanded, so God, our Saint and the plague being willing, that later on this year The Tower will have been restored and Nevern Church will have the seventh peal of 10 bells within Wales - Five of the other peals of ten being in Cathedrals.
Despite being still tight for cash your committee have recently signed contracts for the building work on The Tower and also for the hanging of the bells.
The Tower and Bells project started modestly. There was a simple ambition to restore The Tower and refurbish the original 6 bells for traditional round ringing. These had been cast in 1763 by Thomas Rudall in Gloucester.
Soon it became apparent that it would be a superior ring if 8 bells could be accommodated to make an octave. The Tower is quite squat and robust. Many experts in the bell ringing community became very interested in this project. We were asked by Goodwick Parish to take a Memorial Bell from Goodwick Church. We accepted this kind gift, and then the Keltec Trust gave us two bells cast at the same time as the Goodwick bell, which had been recovered from Trinity Church Brockville in Ontario Canada. This made huge sense musically.
This left us with a surplus bell which happened to be our Tenor Bell.( it is inscribed. “I to the church the living call & to the grave! Do summon all.”) At this point The Keltec Trust asked us to house a very special bell, made in 1593 by William Wettmore - it comes from Garthbrengy Powys. There are only four other bells known to have been cast by Mr Wettmore and two are in St Georges Chapel Windsor.
By now the bell fraternity was very interested. We were inundated with well wishers and “expert advice” but it became very apparent that if we were to install 10 bells Nevern would be extremely unusual. The 6 other churches to have ten bells in Wales are St Davids, Cardiff, Chepstow, Wrexham, Brecon and Llanbadarn Fawr.
The structural engineer and Bell Hanger said that there was no problem for the Tower to accommodate ten bells.
Ten bells at Nevern would put the church on the world ringing map. Not only are ten bells musically superior, but the Nevern bells would be a much lighter set of Bells than elsewhere. This would be a greater attraction to bell ringers of all ages, especially the young, and dare I say the more mature!
Bells form a centuries old tradition in British music, and this new ring of ten would provide an opportunity to ensure the future of Nevern Church not only as a place of worship and centre of community life but also a wonderful venue to teach the art of bell ringing for generations to come.
Your committee became very focussed and determined to do something so unusual. The project was already uniting the community and 26 local bell ringers were until recently training at least once a fortnight in preparation for the Nevern Tower.
With the two Canadian Bells and The Goodwick Bell inserted into the original Peal the two additional bells needed for the peal of ten would need to be smaller to fit into the musical scale. Bells of this size and weight rarely become available on the used market. They will be newly cast so they will blend perfectly with the existing Rudall peal and reclaimed Taylor bells. These bells are to be cast in Italy.
The Church will also need to be able to chime bells when ringers are not available such as funerals. It is proposed to fit the following 3 bells to act as an Ellacombe (That is what these chiming systems are called) our old tenor, the very special Wettmore Bell and a new bell available from a church in Widness.
All the bells and the old bell frame have now been taken down. The bells have been delivered to our appointed bell hangers works near Bath in Somerset. Here they will also be tuned.
Over the last 3 years this project has not only generated amazing support from volunteers with their time and expertise but donations have come from not only people living locally ,but supporters living all over the world who remember Nevern with affection. National and local charities have been hugely supportive as well as Pembrokeshire County Council. We were awarded £123,600 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This was of course match funded by your generous donations. A leading musical charity kindly funded our two new bells and our Ellacombe system with a grant of £30,000. Other charities also very kindly donated. (Detailed Accounts for the project are of course available on request.)
The fly in the ointment is that when the bells and the beams were taken out and the walls exposed it became clear that the roof and walls of the tower were in a worse state than previously advised and that considerable extra money was needed to put this right.
In Consequence the finances of the project are still extremely stretched.
We consider the position is manageable; however we cannot relax at all on the money raising front and therefore will need to redouble our efforts. Do please ring if you need an update to the position 07802828481. We realise that in these very difficult times for the world that you will have other calls on your charitable giving. However your further help would be most appreciated. We have taken the liberty of attaching the details for our appeal again.
We have no doubt that God and St Brynach have been looking after this project. We have been severely tested on several occasions, but have always found a solution. When we have needed expertise in a certain area of specialisation, world class experts have been available from our committee or from our congregation. You can all be very proud of The Tower and Bells Committee and can rest assured that your money has been correctly and expertly looked after. There are too many people to thank individually here; We will specify their contributions in our next update..
Yours very sincerely,
Duncan Fitzwilliams Maggie Campbell
Duncan Fitzwilliams Maggie Campbell Chairman [email protected] Secretary. [email protected]
On behalf of Nevern Church Tower and Bells Appeal
Thank you for reading. Please stay safe in these difficult times. Thanks to your help Nevern Church will remain an important centre of Worship and Learning for at least another few hundred years.
EVERYONE IS IN ALL OUR PRAYERS.
It would be most helpful if you could send us your e-mail address – we would like to keep you updated as much as possible.
Cilla our churchwarden ringing The Bells are down and ready the Ellacombe for the last time to go outside to be cleaned
before removal of the bells. and transported to Mathew Higby our Bell Engineer in Holcombe
Bells are now cleaned and lined up outside the church ready for loading Newport Primary School visit to witness this memorable occasion.
Bell Ringing Team in Action Jane Heard our Treasurer at St Marys Cardigan. In the foreground Hywel receiving instruction from Ian Davies, who is Chairman of the Building Hastilow.
Committee and also Captain of our Hand Bell Ringing Team.
Rev. John Powell our man in charge of grant Donation of the War Memorial Bell
applications. from Goowick Church.
The BOWEN BELL BALL at LLwyngwair Manor Thank you Jo Bowen for organising!
Bishop Joanna
Gift Aid Declaration – Single donation
(Boost your donation by 25p of Gift Aid for every £1 you donate.)
Gift Aid is reclaimed by the charity from the tax you pay for the current tax year. Your address is needed to identify you as a current UK taxpayer.
I want to Gift Aid my donation of £______, to St Brynach’s Church, Nevern, Pembrokeshire for the Nevern Church Tower and Bells Appeal
GIFT AID DECLARATION I understand and declare that I will have paid or will pay an amount of UK Income Tax and / or Capital Gains Tax for each year (6 April to 5 April) that is at least equal to the amount of tax that all the charities and Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CACSs) to whom I donate will reclaim in the same year. Other taxes such as VAT and Council Tax do not qualify. Nevern Church will reclaim 25p of tax for every £1 given which will go towards the Church Tower and Bells Project.
I declare that I am a UK taxpayer and will have paid or will pay UK Tax in accordance with HMRC’s Gift Aid terms and conditions as detailed above. I understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax in the current tax year than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations it is my responsibility to pay any difference.
My Details are:-
Title_____ First name or initial(s) ______Surname ______
Signed. ______Date______
Full Home address ______
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Postcode ______
E –Mail Address :- ______
Please make donations either by cheque made payable to ‘NEVERN CHURCH TOWER AND BELLS APPEAL’ or transfer directly using BACS or similar to our Bank:-
Bank Account: - Nevern Church Tower and Bells Appeal Acc. No. - 00623634 Sort Code: - 30-91-65 Reference: - Please insert your name and initials so the Treasurer can identify your payment.
All correspondence to be sent to Treasurer: - Mrs J Heard, Tregynon, Gwaun Valley, Nr. Fishguard, SA65 9TU
Please notify us if you: want to cancel this declaration change your name or home address no longer pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains. If you pay Income Tax at the higher or additional rate and want to receive the additional tax relief due to you, you must include all your Gift Aid donations on your Self-Assessment tax return or ask HM Revenue and Customs to adjust your tax code.