Soldiers stationed in Coggeshall survey the damage of the night of September 16th 1940. A bomb was dropped in the churchyard which exploded near the tower. The north arcade collapsed and brought down the roof of the nave and later on part of the tower came down. The huge east window was untouched as was the rood screen surmounted by its cross. The two soldiers who had been on watch on the tower roof were knocked over by the blast but were otherwise unharmed. The bells were undamaged and the local policeman and his colleagues lowered them to the ground and they were later housed in a roofed shelter until they were re-hung in the 1950s.
| Pictures showing the damage to the Parish Church and the bells in their temporary home. |