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More to celebrate at the Cathedral...

13th bell installed in the Norman Tower

On Friday 17 May the bell ringers at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds, will celebrate the arrival of a 13th bell for the Norman Tower bell tower. 

The tower, which stands alongside the Cathedral and was once the gateway to the great Abbey of St Edmund, currently houses 12 bells. This is the final bell of three which have been made at Taylor's Foundry in Loughborough.

In 2012 the original ring of 10 bells was augmented with two additional bells, which means that there is greater versatility for the ringers, especially as the older bells are very heavy. This final bell will be installed in the Tower following a brief ceremony at 1.00 pm outside the Norman Tower, to which everyone is welcome.

‘We are delighted that the final bell - the flat 6th - is ready to be installed,’ comments Rowan Wilson, Tower Captain who oversees bell ringing at the Cathedral. ‘Thanks to the fund-raising efforts of the local ringers we are now able to complete our bell augmentation project.’ The 13th bell is dedicated to Neil Collings, former Dean of St Edmundsbury, who died in June 2010.