A BELL in a 14th century West Somerset chapel has been restored for it to be rung to mark the 50th wedding anniversary of Janie and Rollo Clifford.

The couple were married in 1974 in the Lynch Chapel Of Ease, in Selworthy, when the bell was rung for weddings.

However, there had only been two other marriages in the grade two listed chapel in their lifetime and the bell eventually seized up.

Rollo and Janie Clifford outside the Lynch Chapel, Selworthy, on their marriage in 1974.
Rollo and Janie Clifford outside the Lynch Chapel, Selworthy, on their marriage in 1974. ( )

So, when Mr and Mrs Clifford returned for their golden wedding anniversary they commissioned West Country Blacksmiths, in nearby Allerford, to restore the bell.

Mrs Clifford said: “They said the reason it had seized up was because it was not being rung enough.

“So, on the day of our 50th wedding anniversary we rang the bell 50 times.

“We hope the bell will be rung regularly again in future and are delighted and grateful to the Allerford forge for their help.”

The Lynch Chapel of Ease, in Selworthy, where Rollo and Janie Clifford were married in 1974.
The Lynch Chapel of Ease, in Selworthy, where Rollo and Janie Clifford were married in 1974. ( )

Mrs Clifford was born in Lynch, now known as Bossington Hall, and married Rollo Clifford, of Frampton on Severn, at Lynch Chapel.

Her great-grandfather Allan Hughes built Lynch just before World War One and she was the fourth generation to live there.

The chapel contains a memorial to Mrs Clifford’s uncle John Pilcher, who died in Word War Two, aged just 20 years.

Mrs Clifford’s family moved to Lynch Mead in 1982 and her father, Sir Robin Dunn, who was a Lord Justice of Appeal, looked after the chapel and regularly rang the bell before services.

Rollo and Janie Clifford sign the register after their wedding in the Lynch Chapel, Selworthy, in 1974.
Rollo and Janie Clifford sign the register after their wedding in the Lynch Chapel, Selworthy, in 1974. ( )

She said: “It was disappointing when, a few years after his death in 2014, the bell ceased to ring.”

Scaffolding had to be erected for the blacksmiths to access the bell, which was on a hard to reach part of the wall outside the chapel, and free up its mechanism so it could ring again.

Blacksmith Kieren Roberts said: “We had to gain access and investigate the issue.

“The bell had seized and needed some minor realigning

“We gave it a bit of tender loving care, including some heat to free it up, cleaning of the moving components, and a re-grease.”