Ditchingham Church in need of repair as pinnacle loose

Wardens at St Mary's, in Ditchingham, fear that the swinging bells may create movement in the structure that could further weaken it.

It means the village's band of ringers now have to travel to other towers to practice while the issue is investigated.

The damage is to one of the church's pinnacles - spires on the parapets at the corners of the tower - where a large crack has appeared.

The fractured pinnacle on the roof of St Mary's Church (Image: Denise Bradley)

Sally Ellson, the churchwarden, said: "We are wary that the vibrations of the bells could make the crack worse so it has been a precautionary decision to stop the bells ringing.

"Also we cannot say how long it has been cracked, it could have been years and it is not clear what has caused the damage."

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The crack in the northwest pinnacle was spotted in December when the church secretary and fabric officer, Simon Wilkin, was taking guests at the annual Christmas Tree Festival at the church up the tower.

St Mary's Church in Ditchingham (Image: Denise Bradley)

The pinnacle has a lightning conductor attached which was struck during the great storm of 1987.

Mrs Ellson said: "The pinnacle above the entrance to the roof was damaged and fell off during the hurricane of 1987, it required a full restoration job.

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"We don't know what caused the latest damage, but when lightning strikes the lightning conductor we know because the clock stops working."

The fractured pinnacle holds the lightning conductor (Image: Denise Bradley)The area beneath the fractured pinnacle has been cordoned off - pictured from the tower's roof (Image: Bruno Brown)

Despite the damage to the pinnacle the 82ft tower itself is structurally sound.

Its foundation stone was laid in 1479, while the church itself was built between 1450 and 1480.

Some of the church's six bells must have hung in another tower previously, because they predate St Mary's.

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Two of them are dated 1380, while others are from 1620 and 1739, with two dated 1820.

The ancient bells which have been ordered to stop ringing (Image: Denise Bradley)

"It is going to be a mega repair job with a huge scaffolding project necessary," Mrs Ellson said.

"We have had one quote but still need to get two more before we can proceed as it is going to be quite costly,"

The church tower was restored and strengthened in 1925.

It has names of people etched into its walls or drawn on which date back centuries.

Some of the names etched and written into the church tower walls which date back centuries (Image: Denise Bradley)Some of the names etched and written into the church tower walls which date back centuries (Image: Denise Bradley)Some of the names etched and written into the church tower walls which date back centuries (Image: Denise Bradley)