Councillors in Gillingham have dismissed a suggestion that they might support or even fund a silencing of the night-time chimes of St Mary the Virgin Mary parish church.

At a meeting of the town’s full council last Monday councillors were asked to consider a letter from the parishes of Gillingham, Milton-on-Stour and Silton regarding the ‘sounding of the quarter and hour clock chimes overnight at the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin’.

According to councillors, one local resident had complained about the church clock’s chimes at night, prompting the letter to the council from the church authorities for the Benefice of Gillingham, Milton-on-Stour and Silton.

But council members were quick to reject any idea that the church chimes should be curtailed.

‘The church bells have been ringing for a hundred years,’ Councillor Barry von Clemens told the meeting. ‘It’s one resident who has been contact. One person, Mr Chairman, one person who has moved to the town and who was clearly seen that we have a church clock that has been bonging for 100 years. Mr Chairman, I’m sorry…!’

Councillor Paul Harris said costs involved in changing the clock would run into several thousand pounds and that the church authorities were asking whether, if the changes were made, the town council could help with any money towards funding it.

‘I can’t answer for everybody around this table but from my perspective the answer is no. In fact, many of us who have lived here for, in my case, decades and for some people around this table whose families have been here for generations, actually like the bells.’

Councillors approved a motion stating that ‘Gillingham Town Council does not support the silencing of the church bells and will not contribute funds for this to be carried out should the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin decide to proceed’.

Gillingham News has contacted St Mary’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) for comment.