In September 2010 when the 7.1 magnitude Christchurch earthquake hit, the bell in Cheviot’s Presbyterian stone church on State Highway 1 swung so hard it came off its hook and fell to the floor of the first level of the bell tower.
Fortunately, due to the construction of the stone church, the church and hall didn’t suffer any structural damage.
However, the bell was cracked and was left to lie where it fell.
It had been donated to the church by Jim Banks, a returned serviceman who had taken up the land resettlement block of Cheviot Hills, and came from the derelict belltower left over from the Cheviot Hills Estate days where it was used to call the workers to the cookshop.
Meanwhile, plans were afoot for a new life for the church.
In 2018, Cheviot Knox Community Centre Trust (CKCC) was formed to buy the church and hall, on behalf of the Cheviot residents, from the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa.
CKCC chairman Jane Maxwell says the decision to buy it was a good one.
"We knew from the beginning it would take a while for all the community to make the mind-shift from church/denomination-based ownership to a community space owned and operated by the community, for the community.’’
But she says its future is now assured due to the varied and encouraging amount of use both buildings are getting.
Coupled with this and thanks to the backing of local volunteers who open and close the church most days, it is enjoyed by many locals and visitors passing through Cheviot, judging by the entries in the visitor’s book, Maxwell says.
A bell, or the lack of one, was the only missing piece of its new life.
CKCC trustee John Wright urged the trust to look into how to restore a bell in the tower.
Enter Winton Dalley, the now former Hurunui mayor, who knew where there was a surplus bell following the amalgamation of two parishes - Hawarden and Waikari.
The bell from Hawarden, of which little is known of its history, was donated to the trust for its Cheviot complex.
Wright and Peter Somerville installed it in the church tower, and purely by chance, 10 years to the day of the Christchurch earthquake - September 4, 2020 - it was rung.
The issue then remained how to get the damaged bell down from its resting place.
Some ingenious thinking and the abseiling skills of Peter Montgomery and his family from Cheviot Hills helped retrieve it from the church tower and it was transported back home to Cheviot Hills.
A restored belltower awaits the bell, thanks to Jock and Mary Montgomery, who having bought the Cheviot Hills property, commissioned a local builder Leo Garrett to repair and restore it.
Sadly, though, there was no bell.
Maxwell says Peter Montgomery recalls how strongly his parents felt about the Historic Tower at Cheviot Hills, and its bell, and how delighted they would have been to know it had returned home, and maybe one day would take pride of place back in the tower.
"It truly is a win/win for everyone," says Maxwell.
"The Hawarden bell is now in the stone church in Cheviot. The original bell that came from Cheviot Hills, has gone back to Peter Montgomery.
"Sadly he still hasn’t been able to get it repaired. Apparently it may need to go to England to a foundry. Repairing a bell is not easy.
"I guess even if the bell can’t ring, it is back historically where it belongs."
