THANKS to a former student, a small but memorable historic item has been re-installed at Slade Campus, now home to Warwick Christian College.

Eddie Pryor, who attended Slade School from 1950-56, had kept the bell from outside the school's chapel safe in his shed on his Jimboomba property since the late 1990s.

"When I heard that Slade was closing down I decided to go for a visit," he said.

"The watchman told me that it was going to be 'dozed for a new development so I decided to take the bell as a keepsake.

"I have been the caretaker of the bell ever since."

When Mr Pryor, a member of the Slade School past students association, heard the campus was being re-opened as a school again he decided it was time to return the bell to its former hanging spot.

During his time at Slade, the bell was used to signal the start and end of school, chapel and the change of school periods.

Warwick Christian College Terrence McCorkell said it was great to have the bell returned.

"When we moved out here it was our goal to get it back into working order," he said.

"We had actually been wondering where it had got to.

"There were a few people who did what Eddie did when the campus was scheduled for demolition and we have had a number of items returned to us - including a noticeboard and the stained glass window for the chapel," Mr McCorkell said.

The students were equally excited about the bell's return, he said.

"The students know about the bell.

"As part of their curriculum the students have been studying the history of the campus."

The bell was still in the same condition it was in when Mr Pryor backed up his ute and removed it.

Mr Pryor said it was a great deal more difficult to hang it back up than it had been to take down.

"I was a lot more agile back then," he said, balanced on top of a ladder.

Mr McCorkell said he planned to ring the bell to signal the start of chapel and a test ring of the bell yesterday proved students across the campus will not have the excuse of saying they hadn't heard it.