Essential repairs are taking place to the Bell Tower at Chichester Cathedral.
DBR Limited are leading on repairs to the Bell Tower, which was built around 1400. This maintenance includes the removal of plants from the Tower’s high and mid-levels with the assistance of a platform lift.
Chichester Cathedral is unusual among English cathedrals as the bells are not held in a belfry above the church, but in a separate tower or ‘campanile’. It stands 107 feet high and 43 feet square at the base, and the walls are just over 8 feet thick. Its upper levels, accessed by a steep narrow spiral staircase, include the Ringing Room, which also contains the clock mechanism.
The Cathedral has an active band of bell ringers, or campanologists, who practice throughout the week to accompany the Sunday services. The earliest reference to the bells being rung at Chichester is in 1232, although the Tower was built much later.