Bells to be removed from listed church

A set of eight bells will be permanently removed from a Grade II-listed church to allow for repairs and potential reuse elsewhere.

Plans submitted by the Durham Diocese Board of Finance in August, to remove the bells from St Mary's Church in South Hylton, have been approved by Sunderland City Council.

An accompanying heritage statement noted the church has closed as an official place of worship due to a declining congregation and is in a "use-seeking period."

Planning documents said it was likely the bells would be removed to another church or used to train bell ringers at an alternative venue, stating either option would mean they were "available to the public to hear".

The applicant's heritage statement, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said tonal analysis found some bells had deteriorated to the point that they "ring flat" and would have to be recast at a bell foundry.

Although not "nationally significant", applicants said the bells were "worth preserving and reusing somewhere they can be heard again".

Sunderland City Council has now approved listed building consent for the plans and the church bells will be removed from their hangings by specialist contractors.

Planning officers said any "minor harm to the building's significance" would be outweighed by the "potential public benefit" of the bells being reused elsewhere.

Applicants previously said the plan was the best way to preserve the bells and "prevent the eventual loss of part of the building's heritage."

Recent proposals for the closed church include an "arts hub for the South Hylton community."

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