Overview
- Calderdale Council served an abatement notice in April ordering St Michael’s Church to stop chiming between 11 pm and 7 am after multiple noise complaints from local residents.
- Without a £2,500 device to restrict nighttime ringing, church officials opted to silence the full Westminster chimes entirely for the first time since 1848.
- A Change.org petition demanding the bells’ return has attracted 1,296 signatures from villagers who describe the chimes as the soundtrack of their daily lives.
- Many residents associate the church’s chimes with the village’s recovery from the devastating 2015 floods and have expressed strong emotional support for their reinstatement.
- Council members are exploring solutions such as soundproofing the complainant’s home to balance heritage preservation with neighbors’ need for quiet.