A REINCARNATION of a 16th century band is performing to raise money for a church.

Colchester Waits will be putting on a fundraising concert for St Andrew’s Church in Earls Colne.

It is hoping to raise as much money as possible for the church’s bell restoration fund, with the bell-ringers admitting they are in desperate need of refurbishment.

Trevor Beadle, 73, from Earls Colne, is the tower captain for the bell-ringers at the church.

He said: “We are trying to raise £60,000 to £70,000 to get the bells completely refurbished.

“They were installed about 150 years ago and have been rung continuously since then.

“There has been a bit of work done on the bearings but it has got to the stage where we can’t tinker round the edges anymore, it all needs to come out.

“They need re-tuning and putting back with new fittings and working parts.

“They can still be rung as is, but if something is not done within the next ten or 15 years, they will become an impossible set of bells to ring.”

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The upcoming concert will showcase Colchester Waits.

Like most European towns, Colchester had a band of Waits, or civic musicians, throughout the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque periods.

They were employed in the town to perform at civic ceremonies and processions to entertain the people.

The modern Colchester Waits was formed over a decade ago and recreates what that town band would have been.

The group, of about 16 members, play reproductions of the instruments, such as the cornet, bagpipes, recorders and fiddles, performing vibrant historical music.

Lizzie Gutteridge, 42, from Marks Tey, is a member of the band and a bell-ringer for St Andrew’s Church.

She said: “We perform twice monthly, and have a real mixture of people, from various musical background and skill sets.

“It will be great to raise some money to hopefully get the bells back up to scratch.”

The performance is at St Andrew’s Church in Earls Colne, on Sunday from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

Tickets are £10 or £8 for under-18s, and are available from colchesterearlymusic.org.uk or on the door.