Is the bell free hanging or static?

If free hanging, why not consider hanging it in a static cradle and using an external hammer to sound the chime?

Please don't go down the route my local Catholic church took... they took out all their bells (there were 6 on a chiming mechanism) and put in a single toll - recorded!!! It's set to chime the hour and does a different toll for the Angelus at certain times. It sounds pretty good, but it doesn't have the resonance of a real bell.

LTS