CHURCH bells will ring out over a Dales village for the first time in nearly 100 years.

Not since the Armistice of 1918 have the six bronze bells of St Andrew’s Parish Church in Dent chimed together across Dentdale valley.

But following a two-year restoration project, the 300-year-old bells will be returned to the church tower for all to hear.

“It’s been wonderful to see the bells back in the village after such a long time,” said the Rev Peter Boyles.

“It’s been a huge project for a little community to achieve.

"They haven’t pealed properly with ropes since 1918 so we’re now on the hunt for a new generation of bell ringers.”

Named after saints, the bells were officially named at a ‘Chrismation’ service conducted by the former Archbishop of York David Hope on Tuesday.

The largest bell – almost 3ft in diameter and weighing 3,500lb – will be known as Big George with Andrew, David, Patrick and John keeping it company.

The smallest bell will be known as Theresa following a vote by Dent CE Primary school children.

Phillippa Summers, head teacher, said: “The bells restoration really captured their imagination as we learned more about their significance.

"They loved choosing the name, especially as it’s the same name as a local childminder, and some of the older ones want to become bell ringers.”

The Chrismation also involved villagers taking part in an old tradition of bathing the smallest bell in beer, provided by Dent Brewery.

It took restorers 18 months to repair the bells at Whitechapel Bell Foundary in London – remarkably the exact same foundry which cast them in 1787.

The name of the bells’ maker William Mears is engraved on the rim of each one with axe marks visible inside from the first time they were tuned .

Master bell maker Peter Scott, who has put over 1,000 man-hours into the project, said: “It’s very rare to find a complete ring of six bells by Mears.

"The only others exist in Canterbury.

"We’ve left them deliberately untuned to recreate the same idiosyncratic sound the bell maker intended for them 300 years ago.

"These are Dent bells, and so we want to keep the Dent sound.”

Villlagers fundraised £60,000 towards the project which involved sand blasting the bells clean and building new head stocks and wheels.

Mr Scott will now stay in the village for the next week with his colleague Neil Thomas as they fit the bells back into the tower.

“We’re hoping to peal the first bell by Sunday and it’s going to be lovely for villagers to hear the exact same sound that would have echoed out 300 years ago,” he said.