Plans backed for church bell tower in Mid Devon

Church bell and extension plan wins support but not all councillors agree

A delight or a din?  After a heated debate, Mid Devon Council has backed plans to add a bell tower to a Catholic church in Tiverton .

The bell at St James Church in Old Road would ring six times a week for 15 minutes, planners were told, but whilst one councillor called it “a thing of beauty” the chairman was not quite so sure.

“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,” said Cllr Les Cruwys (Lib Dem, Tiverton Cranmore).

Cllr Rachel Gilmour (Lib Dem, Clare and Shuttern) supported the plans by Plymouth’s Roman Catholic Diocese which involves doubling the size of the church and joining it to the presbytery, which will increase in height.

“Henry VIII destroyed the most beautiful Catholic churches in this country. If the Catholic church wants to extend this one in Tiverton and stick a belfry on top, then that’s fine with me,” she said.

Cllr Gilmour has spent a lot of time in France where Catholic churches ring one bell to call people to worship and she says it was “enchanting” and “a thing of beauty”.

But Cllr Cruwys added: “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.”

Cllr Frank Letch (Lib Dem, Crediton Lawrence) lives 394 metres from Crediton church. He hears the bells on practice nights every Tuesday and says it is  “wonderful.”

Cllr Polly Copthorne (Con, Way) said she had attended a meeting this week about the potential closure of a church so it was “very refreshing” to come across this application.

Planners were told that concerns had been raised by nearby residents about the potential noise impact particularly as the bell would be level with some of the houses. However, officers said it would be equivalent to “light traffic noise”.

They supported the application with a number of conditions which limit lighting on site and that bells should only be rung when services are taking place.