Ding-dong in the village as church bell silenced for first time in 177 years
A village church has been forced to silence its chiming bells for the first time in nearly 180 years.
St Michael's in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, was given a notice by the council to silence chiming between 11pm and 7am in April because of a series of complaints submitted by three disgruntled residents.
The clock, which has been a village fixture for 177 years, does the full Westminster chimes with bells that chime on the quarter hour and another that strikes on the hour.
It is not possible to pause the chiming at night until a costly device is fitted, so the bells have fallen silent in order to comply with the Calderdale council order.
Many villagers were appalled by the decision and have set up an online petition to reinstate the bells, which they described as 'the soundtrack of our community's daily life'.
Calderdale council said it had received complaints from three households about the chiming overnight.
Roy Wrathall, who has been a church warden at St Michael's for nine years, said: 'We don't have the facilities to silence overnight.
'There's very much two sides to it. There's 'I'm awake in the night, there goes the clock that reassures me' and 'I can't get to sleep because I keep hearing that clock every 15 minutes'. It's not an easy one to resolve.
'Wearing the church hat – we're there for everybody so we'll do what the law says we have to do and do our best to try and please as many people as we can.
'The only way we can comply between 11pm and 7am is to stop the chimes. The clock's still going but the chimes have stopped.'
'A symbol of continuity and community'
Villagers have set up a Change.org petition to reinstate the bells, which has received 1,296 signatures.
The petition states: 'These bells have chimed since 1848, long before any of us were here – a symbol of continuity and community for over a century.
'My family's roots run deep in this village, and for us, as for numerous other residents, the chimes are more than bells – they are the soundtrack of our community's daily life.'
The petition urges the council to reconsider their decision and find a solution that satisfies both the individuals who raised the complaint and the majority of village residents.
One suggestion is to soundproof the complainants' residences.
Danielle Durrans, the Calderdale council's cabinet member for public services and communities, said: 'The Council received several complaints from local residents about the noise of the church clock chime overnight, and the substantial impact it was having on their quality of life.
'We understand how much local people value heritage and the tradition of the church clock.
'However, the evidence from our investigation showed that the regularity and volume of the bell chiming, at the time of night when people are sleeping, was causing a substantial impact, so we had no option but to determine a statutory nuisance and serve an abatement notice requiring the chimes not to operate between 11pm and 7am.'
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