Preshute Church of England Primary School School, Manton, is a small village school at the heart of the Preshute Community. The school was founded in the 1830s by the local vicar in the village of Manton in order to teach his parishioners to read.

The history of the school is well documented and the first and 'still-in-use' building was the present Hall - a brick building adjacent to the village street built in 1845. Atop this building is the bell-tower and this structure still contains the original bell, which is now approx.180 years old and still capable of being rung. The bell was first hung in 1845 and is a key part of the School's history and features in the school emblem together with the local herb - Bergamot.

The bell has been a great part of the School's history and we feel it is very important that the children of the school are encouraged to understand and follow on with traditions such as ringing the school bell each day.

Although the bell tower is generally in good condition, the head-stock, from which the bell actually hangs, is in need of some necessary repair work before the bell can be rung again. In addition, a new bell- rope to descend into the school hall below is needed to allow the bell to be rung daily by the children. This would involve fitting a hardwood timber mount to the window to allow the bell rope to pass through and descend into the hall.

The school's PTA, the Preshute Primary School Association (PPSA) together with the Green Gestures team - a team of hard working, enthusiastic volunteers dedicated to supporting the School - have teamed up and launched this crowd funding campaign to raise funds to restore the bell at the school, so that the school bell is reinstated and can ring out over the playground and village once again.

The work has been costed by the foremost Church Bellhangers in the country, namely Whites of Appleton Ltd, and has been estimated to cost £4,000.

Our idea is to make this project one of the lasting initiatives to celebrate our Queen's Platinum Jubilee, therefore linking the Queen Victoria's Diamond reign with Queen Elizabeth's Platinum reign - a wonderful initiative to celebrate our Queen's marvellous reign and our school's continued level of excellence in the education of the children of our local villages.

Working alongside this crowdfunding campaign, we also feel that the children should be involved and encouraged to use their talents and entrepreneurial skills in helping to fund raise for this project, so plans are afoot for this with the school.

The donations you make will help to pay towards the repair and renovation of the bell and any funds you can give to help us with this restoration project will be gratefully received - any funds, any size will be extremely appreciated!

Lets help to make Preshute's Bell toll once more!