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Jubilee church bell's debut for King's Coronation

Robert Willis/Icarus Aerial Imaging Andrew Woolley sat by the church bellsRobert Willis/Icarus Aerial Imaging
Andrew Woolley led the project with the help of a team of local volunteers and contractors

A church bell cast specially for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee will be rung for the first time to mark King Charles III's Coronation.

St Mary's Church in Calne, Wiltshire, also contains bells that were rung for the late queen's coronation in 1953.

A team of volunteers has raised funds to retune the bells, automate a clock in the church and improve safety in the Grade I listed building.

Project lead Andrew Woolley said: "It's not something you get to do every day."

Work for the Calne St Mary Bell Project began in September 2022, more than a decade after the idea was first suggested.

Two of the original bells are more than 300 years old, and the latest bell was cast in April 2022 for the Jubilee.

Robert Willis/Icarus Aerial Imaging Jubilee Bell which is inscribed with "I celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II."Robert Willis/Icarus Aerial Imaging
The Jubilee Bell, which was cast in April 2022, will ring for the first time on Coronation Day

It features an inscription that reads: "I celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II."

However, it has never been rung.

Mr Woolley, who led the restoration project, said: "We needed a major grant. We nearly gave up - at points we never thought it would happen."

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