Happisburgh time and tide bell vandalised on Norfolk beach

The 'Spirit of Happisburgh' time and tide bell was unveiled at an event at the beach last week, but now organisers believe part of the bell has been “mischievously unscrewed” by vandals.

On Wednesday (July 12), the clapper, which makes the bell ring as the tide comes in and out, was found broken.

The unscrewed clapper found on the beach (Image: Stuart McPherson)

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Rob Payne, who has led the group responsible for bringing the bell to the beach – a project nine years in the making – said the bell has now been repaired.

“Once I heard about it this morning, I went back to put it back on,” he said.

“It’s hard to tell for sure how this happened, but my guess would be that someone has mischievously unscrewed it.

“It takes a fair amount of turns to come undone. That might happen after a couple of years, but not in under a week.

“The structure itself is immensely strong and has been over-engineered and is designed to take twice what a storm could throw at it.”

Rob Payne, steering group leader, back right, and some of the team with the Happisburgh Tide and Time Bell. From left, Liz Dixon; Mark Howson; and Phil Horsley (Image: Denise Bradley)

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The bell is one of 13 being installed across the UK coastline.

Mr Payne said none of the other bells have ever come unscrewed.

The Happisburgh Time and Tide Facebook page posted an update on the bell, stating “the removal of the clapper looks like a deliberate act of damage by someone who isn’t confident enough to engage in a conversation about the sound”.

It added that the sound of the bell was recorded at “less decibels than the village peacock”, when measured from the car park.

The Spirit of Happisburgh time and tide bell (Image: Gail D'Almaine)

The incident has not been reported to the police.

“Should it happen again we would of course report the damage to the police and seek to retrieve the costs of repair,” the statement read.

“But we are pleased to say that everybody we meet seems to love this quirky piece of public art.”

The bell being put in position on Happisburgh beach last week (Image: Pamela Barfield)