VILLAGERS who raised more than £80,000 to get their church its first new bells in 130 years have watched them arrive.

And the six new bells at Drayton St Leonard church, near Dorchester, have been cast by the same firm that cast the last six in 1884 – Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

The bells were delivered from London at lunchtime on Friday, July 1, and the laborious process of hanging them in the tower has begun this week.

The project to raise money for new church bells at St Leonard and St Catherine Church was launched exactly a year ago, in July 2015.

Since then, about 300 villagers have raised more than £80,000 from events, individuals donors and grants.

Villager and Tower Captain Hilarie Rogers, who helped spearhead the fundraising, said: "There has been immense interest and support from the village, which values its bells and is eager for ringing to resume."

The bells of Drayton St Leonard's parish church have rung out across the village and fields for more than 500 years.

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The previous ring of six bells were cast in 1884 and swung in the top of the tower ever since, every Sunday, at weddings and other big occasions.

All towers move slightly when bells are rung, but the total weight of the previous bells was slightly more than the tower could "comfortably withstand".

In addition to that, the bell fittings had almost reached the end of their life and needed replacing anyway.

After the village raised its grand total for the necessary works, work began in April this year when the tower was cleared and the existing bells removed.

Since then, various pieces of structural work have taken place and the six new bells were cast at Whitechapel Bell Foundry, watched by donors and ringers.

Mrs Rogers said: "Amazingly, the foundry still have in their store the original stamps that were used for the inscriptions all those years ago, and were able to use them on the new bells."

The new bells should last long enough to ring out over the village for another 100 years.