Church bells at Wrexham St Giles need £10,000 repairs

There are concerns about the future of Wrexham parish church's bells which have rung out over the town centre for almost 300 years.

Bell ringers at St Giles have launched a £10,000 appeal to fund repairs, saying they now need an overhaul as they were last restored 60 years ago.

The church has 10 bells which were cast in 1726 and weigh up to 1.2 tonnes.

Ringing master Ian Maycock said the bell frame was going rusty and the bells' clappers needed replacing.

He said the church could not afford to fund the repairs so the ringers were seeking funding from different sources.

The bells were cast in Gloucester and transported up the river Severn to Shrewsbury and then taken by road to Wrexham before being hoisted into place in the medieval church's tower.

The tower is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales, a rhyme written in the 18th Century and which lists other important landmarks in north Wales.