THE bell tower in the Uniting Church grounds in Rosewood is at risk of being dismantled and removed if urgent repairs are not carried out.
Next year marks 100 years since the distinctive tower was erected in the town’s main street.
In 1925, the Rosewood church celebrated its jubilee by installing it and it’s since rung for countless weddings and funerals.
Joyce Rieck is secretary of the Church Council and is hoping for a stay of execution which can only happen if money is found to pay for repairs.
The bell tower is a significant feature in the streetscape and almost every photo taken of Rosewood’s main street over the past hundred years includes it.
“The bell is held in its original timber support beams, well almost original because we had repair work done about ten years ago,” Joyce said.
“[Repairers] put it in stirrups under the uprights because it had rotted off in the ground.
“The bell is rung every Sunday at church and certainly during funerals as the hearse leaves the church ground.
“We ring it during weddings too as the bride and groom leave the church.”
During Covid, a parishioner from St Bridget’s Catholic Church rung the bell at 12pm every day which Joyce said was a lot of comfort to people in town.
“The state of it at the moment means we are not ringing it every Sunday and certainly not at midday, because the bellringer feels it is a bit of a risk,” she said.
“It is in a very poor state of repair at the present time, we would really like to have it repaired and fear if that doesn’t happen it will become a danger and we will be forced to pull it down.”
As its centenary looms, the call for repairs to happen sooner than later are becoming more urgent.
“The centenary is such a significant date and we’d really love to have it spruced up and in a better state by then,” she said.
“The thing is it’s quite an expensive and complex job to repair it and the church is not flush with funds, the only way we can afford it is by applying for a grant.”
She said the church was considering applying for a grant under the State Government’s Gambling Community Benefit Fund.
“[The benefit fund] have a round of grants closing on April 30 and grants up to $100,000 are available,” she said.
“We need a firm quote on the cost to bring it up to standard, and it’s a really complex issue in just getting a quote because there are so many unknowns like whether they’ll need to get a crane in, close the footpath or even the road while its being done.
“Getting funding as a church isn’t as easy as it was decades past because churches aren’t as well supported anymore.
“Like many other churches, we don’t have a lot of finance, and the money we do have is used in supporting the community.”
