People complaining about church bells disturbing their peace are routinely told that they should not have bought a house so close to a belfry. But what happens if the church bells move in next to you?
Disgruntled residents of Old Road in Tiverton, Devon, have been told that the once-silent St James’s Catholic church, which was built in 1967, will soon be the beneficiary of a spire and a belfry housing two bells.
The church, which began life as a social centre and resembles a large village hall, will also double in size under the new plans.
Kevin Finan, 71, who lives opposite, said no one within earshot of the church attended services and the addition of a belfry and spire was “like putting lipstick on a pig”.
Finan, the former chief executive of the council, said: “The only people the bells will impact are the neighbours, who won’t be attending the church. The parish is about 50 square miles so the bells aren’t going to be heard by parishioners.
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“I have previously lived next to a church and the bells would vibrate you out of bed in the morning but that was our choice to move there. This is being added to the existing neighbourhood. I can appreciate the argument about [a belfry and spire] being traditional but the building itself is completely characterless.”
The design statement submitted on behalf of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth said the addition of “a bellcote and spire shall help identify the building as a church”. “Something which is desperately needed,” it added.
Mid Devon council’s planning committee has approved the plans for the church, which sits opposite a row of Victorian terraced homes, after being told the bells would ring six times a week for 15 minutes before each service.
One councillor called the idea of a new belfry a “thing of beauty”.
Rachel Gilmour, a Liberal Democrat councillor who supported the plans, told the planning committee meeting: “Henry VIII destroyed the most beautiful Catholic churches in this country.
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“If the Catholic church wants to extend this one in Tiverton and stick a belfry on top, then that’s fine with me.”
Les Cruwys, a fellow Liberal Democrat councillor and chairman of the planning committee, strongly disagreed.
“It’s one thing moving into a beautiful little village and buying a lovely cottage next to a church, but this is the opposite: the church bells are moving in next to them,” he told the meeting.
“Bells are not there to call people to the service any more. People come from further afield and will not hear the bells anyway.
“I cannot agree with the officer’s recommendation to support this, unless it’s minus the bells.”
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Concerns were raised by nearby residents about the potential noise impact, particularly as the bells would be level with some bedrooms.
Planning officers argued that the noise from the bells would be equivalent to “light traffic noise”.
Keri Parkinson, the agent for the church’s planning application, said the two 51kg bells would be struck with an electric ringer and produce a sound in the range of 100 to 125 decibels.
“From an internet search, it seems that this should equate to 70 decibels from street level, which it states is less than average traffic noise and a ringing telephone,” Parkinson told a council planning officer in an email.
“It is worth us noting that these are Catholic bells and not Anglican. It is most unlikely that more than one bell will toll at a time apart possibly from at the end of a wedding service. A Catholic bell tolls dead hung [in a fixed position]. It is likely that one bell will toll for service for 15 minutes broken into three sections, whereas an Angelus bell will toll/speak three strikes twice during the blessing of the host in Mass.”
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Anglican bell ringing can involve eight bells or more ringing at the same time for up to three hours for a full peal and often for half an hour before a Sunday service.
Gary Banfield, who lives on Old Road, said if the church’s estimate of the sound levels was accurate “and the sound will be so unobtrusive to residents, does it not beg the question, why are bells needed at all, as apparently no one will be able to hear them”.
In a letter to the planning committee, Banfield said he was “not sure that bells as a call to prayer are suitable on a residential road, bearing in mind that the houses have been here far longer than the church”.
Councillors supported the application with a number of conditions that limit lighting on site and stipulate bells should only be rung when services are taking place.
