Abseil celebrates Swaffham church work

A charity abseil down a village church tower near Swaffham has marked the end of a decade of work to restore the building to its former glory.

Ten years ago, the future of All Saints’ Church, Necton, was in question after the tower was found to need major repairs.

But now, with the tower fully restored and its bells newly repaired and able to be fully rung for the first time in decades, a team of abseilers took off from the top of the building to celebrate the bells’ return on Saturday.

It was part of a weekend of special events, which began with a concert featuring the RAF Marham Military Wives choir last Friday.

The village’s annual music festival took place at the weekend, while the restored bells were dedicated in a service presided over by the Bishop of Lynn, the Rt Rev Jonathan Meyrick, on Sunday.

The church’s vicar, the Rev Stephen Thorp, said they hoped to benefit from the packed programme.

He said: “It was a fun event and part of a great weekend.”

Twenty-two intrepid explorers took part in the abseil, from which proceeds will be shared between the church and the Swaffham and Litcham Home Hospice. Sponsorship money is still being collected.

Although the bells had been chimed in the past, they had not been fully rung for at least 40 years.

A team of specialists from Somerset came to the church earlier this year to remove the bells for the repair project, before returning to reinstall them last month.

Rev Thorp said the church community had itself raised £40,000 towards the restoration of the bells.