Historic bell stolen from Wigan borough church has been found

A centuries-old Wigan church bell has been returned to its chapel after its theft left churchgoers horrified.

Worshippers at All Saints in Hindley were stunned to discover that the chapel bell, which is approaching 380 years old this year, had been taken from the building. It is widely thought to be the original bell from when the first chapel was built in 1641.

Brazen thieves had scaled the roof of the Grade-II listed building in Chapel Fields Lane, sometime after last Wednesday, January 27, before detaching the bell from its tower and dropping it to the ground. Its weight was enough to leave a large hole in the ground where it landed. But the Church’s hierarchy was in celebration mode this week after receiving the news that the bell had been located at a scrap metal yard, hours after an appeal for its whereabouts was posted on social media.

It is understood that the yard owners had purchased the bell from an anonymous seller, and were unaware that it was a stolen item, or its historical importance.

They immediately contacted the Church and offered its return free of charge, after seeing the appeal online and recognising the description of the bell.

Enquiries are now ongoing to trace the people responsible for taking the bell.

Church secretary Annette Baron said: “I felt like I was going to burst out crying. I was shaking. It was just such a relief, you cannot put a price on the historic value of it.

“The bell is 380 years old this year, so we’ll hopefully be able to get it cleaned up and put back up, and make a big thing of it - if Covid allows us to do so.”

She went on: “They scaled the building somehow! I really don’t know how they’ve done it. They’ve then walked the length of the roof and they cut it down. It was so lucky it hit the grass rather the pavement, because it looks like it’s not been damaged in any way, shape or form.

The original Parish church of Hindley was built in the year 1641, and was not consecrated but was given parochial status by the Parliamentary Commission with boundaries covering Hindley, Abram, Aspull, and parts of Ince. The current chapel became a Grade-II listed building in 1966.

Anyone with information about the theft should contact the police on 101 or, alternatively, the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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