All Saints Church Hitcham to be lit up by Victorian oil lamps

A village church is set to be aglow with Victorian oil lamps for a display this weekend.

Jason Kermeen, alongside the Historic Lighting Club, will showcase approximately 200 lamps at All Saints Church Hitcham to celebrate the restoration of the church's bells.

As well as the light display, a select few villagers will be ringing the bells on their own for the first time.

Jason said: "We're putting on a fairly large oil lamp display of all the historic oil lamps from grand houses in Victorian times to the more industrial mundane ones, but they all had their part to play.

"Hitcham church is a beautiful, historic building and would have been originally lit by oil lamps so it will give people a very good idea of how the church would have appeared," he added.

Jason hopes to raise £600 and the money raised will go towards the church tower and the maintenance of its bells which has recently been restored.

He said: "The trouble was the original frames dated back pre-Tudor and it was becoming weak an unstable so the bells were no longer allowed to be rung - not properly anyway. Members of the church managed to raise the money and we were donated two other bells. It has new frame and all the bells are re-hung so now we can ring them properly and when we want.

"The last time they were rung properly was in 1919 - over a hundred years ago."

Jason will be among the villagers to ring the bells on Saturday and gradually locals will take on more bell-ringing responsibility.

Tea and biscuits will also be provided at the event.

The display with commence on Saturday March 5 from 4pm until 8pm.