Can readers tell us for whom the bell tolls?

Pictures belonging to the late local history enthusiast Harold Gough, show the bell hanging in a round window which for years lay empty as the hall grew into disrepair over the years.

The main structure of the building was eventually demolished and the facade retained for incorporation into the new complex - and the hole has now been sealed over.

It is believed that the bell now hangs in the tower at nearby Drumachose Presbyterian Church in the town, but for how long, and why, remains something of a mystery.

Jochen Lueg of the Roe Valley News Browser website has been trying to get to the bottom of the story and wants to see if the bell could be returned to its former home.

"Notice the opening above the clock - which these days is empty?" he says of the photograph.

"Wouldn't it be nice if this bell could be found and restored to its former place of glory?"

However that plan may now be in doubt, not least because the bell has a new home and the place where it once tolled has been closed off.

Mr Lueg has confirmed that his investigations have led him to the church, adding: "Drumachose Church has the bell but I could find nobody that knew the how and why of the transfer."

And Reverend Stephen McCracken of the church has confirmed his findings.

"I am quite new to the area so while I have been told that the bell in the church tower is the one that used to hang at the Alexander Memorial Hall, I am not sure why, or when it first came to be here." he said.

The building work on the new centre, which retained the historic facade of the old structure, began in March 2009 and is due to be completed by the end of this month.

The controversial project had initially been rejected by councillors because of the 4m cost, but Limavady Borough Council eventually signed a constract for 2.63m.

The hall dates from 1872 and a report for the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society by WD Girvan in 1975 once stated: "Above the central (window) is an awkwardly placed two-faced clock, bearing the motto - Alexander Memorial Hall.

"Surely the clock was intended to be placed in the empty oculus in the middle of the pediment - now the haven of pigeons."

This observation means the bell must have been missing from the opening for at least 30 years.

Drumachose has its own interesting architectural features and can trace the origins of its congregation to the year 1655 when Thomas Fulton came from Ayrshire in Scotland to be Commonwealth Minister.

The Church in those early days was situated on the site of the present Tesco supermarket and moved to its current site in Church Street following a theological dispute in 1743.

Drumachose was built in the shape of a Greek Cross and the four aisles are named after the townlands to which they point.

A spokeswoman for Limavady Borough Council told the Sentinel: "There was a round hole there but it has been filled and it's not intended that the bell will be replaced.

"The decision to remove the bell was not taken in recent years and was made many years ago.

"It is not in Council's possession."

If you know more about the history of the bell, contact the Sentinel on 02877764090.