All Saints Church, Longhope - "Adopt an Anchor" Appeal

The Bell Tower at All Saints Church in Longhope needs urgent structural repairs and you can help! Alongside legacy monies already received, and grant aid funding which we are hoping to secure, we are hoping to raise £18,000 in donations to fund the work. This includes the installation of 60m of Anchor rod to bind the Tower walls together. If you are able to, please consider donating now to ‘adopt’ part of an anchor rod and enable our bells to be rung again in the future.

Our Story

“There is something wonderfully British about the sound of church bells ringing out from a country village church whether summoning worshippers to church on a Sunday morning or heralding a life event such as a wedding or a funeral. My favourite though is the sound of the bells at midnight on Christmas Eve heralding the birth of the Christ child.

There are about 5,000 churches with bell ringers in Britain and almost everyone lives within hearing range of one of them. Or at least they did. Unfortunately, the bells at All Saints Longhope have been silent for some time now.”

What needs to be done?

Those making the 5 yearly ground level inspections had become increasingly concerned as to the true condition of the Tower. In July 2020, Architects and Structural Engineers were engaged to carry out high level detailed inspections using a cherry picker platform. They subsequently reported that the Bells should not be rung until urgent remedial Strengthening and Repair works were completed!

The Bells and Bell Frame are in excellent serviceable condition, but the stonework that houses and supports them is in need of urgent strengthening and repair.

The Major Strengthening and repair works include:

• Installation of 60m of Cintec Anchor rod to bind the Tower walls together.
• Dis-assembly and rebuild of Pinnacles.
• Dis-assembly and rebuild of heavy stone Louvre Windows.
• Replacement of Cracked Quoins and multiple badly weathered stones.
• Large Face areas of cement mortar to be replaced with Lime Mortar.

Our Appeal Target is £18,000
This equates to £100 per foot of Anchor Rod or £300 per metre.