St Michael's Church in Bishop's Stortford auctions historic bell fittings

People can snap up a unique piece of Bishop's Stortford history on Friday (June 24) at an auction of fittings from St Michael's Church bells.

Buyers will be able to view the lots at the Windhill Churches Centre, behind the place of worship, from 1pm. The sale begins at 8pm.

Items going under the hammer include cast iron clappers, oak wheels, ash stays, ropes, pulleys, ladders and running boards.

Organisers hope they will find a new home with history buffs, be used as unusual house or garden decorations or the inspiration for craft projects.

The sale follows the removal of nine bells from the tower as part of a £300,000 refurbishment plan. They have been taken to Whites of Appleton in Oxfordshire, the oldest, continuously trading bell-hanging company in the UK having been founded in 1824.

Meanwhile, renovations are being carried out in the tower by Lodge and Sons Builders Ltd.

Seven of the nine will be retuned and returned to the church along with six new bells which will be installed in the tower in August and September. Two cannot be retuned and have been sold for use in another church while the oldest bell, dating from 1713, remains in St Michael's. While it cannot be retuned, it is being retained because of its historical significance.

There have been bells in the tower since the early 1400s. The last ring was installed in 1820.