THE historic bell of St Peter’s, Woolavington, is once more chiming out, thanks to the fund-raising efforts of students, 
parishioners and Old Seafordians – the old boys and girls of Seaford College.
The bell, which was taken down in the Easter holiday , has been restored to its former glory and was recently re-dedicated by the Bishop of Chichester Rt. Rev’d Dr Martin Warner at a special service in the Chapel.
The bell, cast by John Waylett in 1723, is approximately 2 cwt in weight and has a diameter of more than 21½ inches, so removing and reinstalling was no mean feat!
The bumper bell is one of only 29 bells cast for Sussex churches by the Waylett foundry, of which only 25 now survive.
For almost 400 years, the bell had hung high above the roof of the tiny chapel where, after many years exposed to the elements, the bell fittings were in urgent need of restoration.
Craftsmen from Nicholson Engineering, Bridport, were brought in to carry out the mammoth task and spent a month restoring the bell and preparing it – hopefully – for another few centuries facing the vagaries of the great British 
weather.
St Peter’s is one of the shepherds’ churches on the Sussex Downs and was built to serve the local farming community.
Today, it serves as chapel to the independent day and boarding school which has been based on the estate since 1946.
It is in regular use by the College for worship and has been used several times in recent years for confirmation services – and even the occasional wedding.
The work not only means the bell is once more sounding out from St Peter’s as pupils make their way to chapel for worship but new electronics which have been installed enable the bell strike the hour during daytime.
The restoration included fabricating a new headstock and support plates from stainless steel and fitting the bell with an electrically operated chiming hammer.
In its early years, the church bell would carry the message of Sunday services to the shepherds tending their sheep on the Downs above.
Sometimes the shepherds and their dogs were free to leave their flock, joining the village congregation but more often than not, unable to leave their flock, the sound of the chapel bell would remind them of the service taking place.
Graffham parish priest Rev’d Stephen Gray, who is also Chaplain to Seaford College, said: “The restoration of the bell honours the history and spiritual heritage of this sacred Church.”
Grants towards the cost of the work, which totalled £6,500, came from former pupils of the school – known as Old Seafordians – the Sussex Churches Bell Restoration Fund and plus cash raised during a sponsored run across the South Downs by six staff and five students of the College.
The area, now encompassed by the Lavington Park estate, was mentioned in the Domesday Book survey of 1087 as “eleven villagers with seven smallholders have four ploughs, a church, woodland, and ten pigs.”
The first illustration is in a pictorial map of 1597, with the chapel clearly shown standing close to the Elizabethan mansion built by the first owner of the estates of Woolavington and Graffham, after they were bought from the Earl of Arundel in 1578 for £4,000 – a princely sum in those days!
Seaford College acting headmaster John Green said: “The chapel forms an important and integral part of life at Seaford College and it is wonderful to see – and hear – the bell once more in active daily operation.
It reminds us of not only of our heritage but also of the College’s strong Christian foundations.”