A village has fallen silent for the first time in more than 30 years after its church bells were removed for repair.

The ring of eight bells were taken down after 80 years today and will not be heard again for more than three months.

But to fill the void bell ringers at St Margaret's Church in Buxted, near Crowborough, have begun learning to play hand bells.

Three of the eight bells at the church, which is in Buxted Park, are in urgent need of repair and the tenor has not been in working order for about a year.

The £30,000 project will be completed in April and will be refitted to call parishioners to the Sunday morning service.

Church treasurer Homer Cox, 64, said: "This project will give us a ring of eight fully restored and retuned bells, which should last for the next 100 years.

"The bells are important for the church because they tell people when it is time for worship and remind them of the church.

"As far as Sussex is concerned, once they are refitted they will have one of the best sounding ring of bells.

"We are fortunate that we have a ring of eight bells because most churches have a ring of six and others four or three.

"We have a team of 15 people who ring the bells regularly and they will now have a go at playing the hand bells."

The eight bells, which weigh three tonnes in total, fell silent after ringing in the new year on January 1.

They have been heard every week since about 1908 apart from during a five year period between 1972 to 1977 when no bell ringers could be found.

Since then they have called people to Sunday worship on more than 1,500 occasions and to more than 300 weddings.

The Reverend John Challis said: "The bells are a central feature of church life at St Margaret's and it is our duty to maintain and preserve them for future generations."

The tenor bell is about 250 years old and the eight bells have a combined age of 1,340 years.

They will be taken away by Whites of Appleton, a 180-year-old Oxfordshire company, where they will receive new headstocks and clappers.

From the workshop they will go to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, before returning to Oxfordshire for final fittings to be completed.

St Margaret's Church is one of a small number of religious sites in England dedicated to Margaret Queen of Scotland.

She died aged 47 in 1093 and was canonised as a saint in 1250, the year the church was built.

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