In the astoundingly short period of 18 months, due to the dedication and support of so many people, the eight bells in St Denys Church have been restored and rehung.
The dismantling of the bells happened across two weeks in January 2024 – the worker from Taylors was ably supported by a team of local volunteers. At the end of this process all the fittings and the oldest bell were returned to the foundry for restoration and replacement. Three bells remained in the tower and four were securely stored for us by Cornish Lithium.

Liz Bradbury writes “Fundraising and awareness raising activities continued at pace. The hardworking committee constantly kept working – members came from across the village community, not just the church. This has certainly been a whole community project.
Nine people have been training or refreshing their training as bell ringers – this has been conducted at this stage by Phil Tremaine and the training bell at St Columb Major – when this stage of training is complete then weekly bell ringing practice will resume in St Dennis.
In June 2024, over a period of 4 weeks, the bells were rehung, tested and then handed over to Steve, as Tower Captain. The internal of the ringing chamber were made more hospitable with walls cleaned, cleaned curtains, new curtain pole and new carpet.
A service of celebration and rededication of the bells was held at the church on Sunday 14^th July led by Bishop Hugh Nelson and attended by representatives from across the village and Cornish bell ringing community. The focus of this service was the way the local community has come together to support the project. Bishop Hugh spoke passionately about this aspect but also about how bells impact on our lives – to call to prayer, to celebrate family and community events and to warn and protect.
The local bell ringing community have been generous in their support of St Dennis and will be supporting us as we go forward.
Pictures here courtesy of Derek Williams who photographed the whole process. These photos will be kept for the St Denys archives.