Latest news with #StAugustines
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Outraged priest blasts huge hypocrisy after locals and council turn against his plans to install new set of church bells in ritzy suburb: 'Unacceptable noise'
Locals have hit back at a century-old church over plans to install a new set of bells, claiming it will be too noisy despite already living next to a loud pub. St Augustine's Church in Balmain, in the Sydney 's Inner West, has come up against a flurry of complaints from residents who fear the bells will result in a 'loss of sleep'. The application includes increasing the number of church bells it rings out during Sunday masses and religious events such as weddings and funerals. However, Balmain residents have lodged concerns of the noise impacts this development could have on the local area. The 119-year-old Catholic church has applied to increase the number of bells inside it's 38-metre tall bell tower from one to a set of eight. Bell-ringing would take place between 8.30am and 9pm for up to 20 minutes at a time for a maximum of five sessions a day, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The plans submitted by the church to Inner West Council claim the new bells would 'preserve the acoustic tradition' of bell-ringing. St Augustine's also noted in the plans the new bells will remind local residents to cherish community spirit in 'an era of increasing digitalisation and detachment'. But the plans have been met with objections from neighbours who claim the new set of bells could result in 'unacceptable noise' disturbances. In submissions to the council, some residents have claimed sleeping babies, living in homes as close as 20 metres away from the church, could be disturbed by the bells. Parish priest Father Peter Smith has shut down critics of the proposal and shared his disbelief at some of the complaints. 'The church is 100 metres from a noisy pub that goes all night, so for people to say the bells will wake babies or will keep people awake at night is a bit of a stretch,' he said. He argued the existing bell in the church has rung for more than 100 years and residents who moved into the area would have been aware of the bell tower. 'Places like Balmain are noisy places and I think that's part of the charm of living here,' he added. However, residents' concerns have been echoed by the council during the early feedback stage of the application. Inner West Council has also raised concerns over potential noise disturbances and how this could impact the local area. Praxis Acoustics, which carried out noise modelling on behalf of the church, slammed the council's early feedback and claimed it was using noise restrictions that wouldn't typically apply to the area surrounding the church. The church bells were funded through donations from The Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers, which plans to use the new bells for training. Daily Mail Australia contacted Inner West Council for comment.
BBC News
28-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Berkshire clock still keeping village on time after 500 years
Villagers have been celebrating the 500th birthday of the clock in their parish timepiece in East Hendred, near Wantage in rural Oxfordshire, is believed to be the oldest clock in Britain that is still in its original location. With no clock face or hands, it relies on the church bells in the tower at St Augustine's to ring out the time every quarter decision to install it in the church was taken when Henry VIII was on the throne, explained the man responsible for St Augustine's bells, Tower Captain Nigel Findley. "Imagine the excitement that would have caused then," he said. As well as striking the bells every quarter hour, a carillon resembling the insides of a giant musical box, plays a tune called Angel's Song four times a day, every three hours, starting at 09: 2015, one of the hammers used to strike the six bells came away and fell into the mechanism, jamming it and silencing the clock."It was like missing a friend," said church council secretary Ann Pappenheim. "It's a real part of living in the village."When you're working in the garden, it really does give you a sense of time and I missed it," she added. "Now it's back and it's wonderful."The clock, which was originally built a few miles away in Wantage, underwent a lengthy renovation. A modification also saw the installation of a mechanised winding system, ending the requirement for somebody to climb the narrow, winding staircase each day to the clock room to do the job by hand. This week, to mark the clock's birthday, people were able to visit the tower to see the mechanism in as guide was Simon Gilchrist, who led the described it as being "a real passion," to have spent time on the project."It's not often that we as clock repairers get the opportunity to work on something that is old, but also something that is of great historical importance," he clock used to be set using a sundial on the outside of the tower. Now a modern digital clock secured to the wall, next to the Tudor era mechanism is used."When this thing was made 500 years ago, we didn't have the accuracy that we have today," said Mr Gilchrist. Parts of the mechanism like the pendulum expand in the summers heat and contract in the cold of winter, all affecting was a device built for a time when peoples' days began at dawn and ended shortly after the sun went that, he added: "In terms if accuracy, it's pretty accurate." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
