Bell foundry makes £5m lottery bid
Proposals include restoration of Grade II listed buildings
THE Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust says a new project to secure the long-term future of the John Taylor foundry in Loughborough is now underway.
And a major application to the Heritage Lottery Fund of £5m plus, is due to be submitted in December this year.
Having been rescued from administration a few years ago, John Taylor & Co has spent the last few years quietly restoring the fortunes of this historic business and historic factory site.
In 2016 the directors established the Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust to hold the site in per- petuity, protect its unique archives, manufacturing methods and tools and prepare a basis for pursuing the comprehensive restoration of the buildings.
Since that time, work has been ongoing to prepare restoration proposals that can ensure the long-term survival of Taylor’s as a vital part of our national heritage.
Trustees and John Taylor staff have been working hard over the last 18 months to develop proposals for the future of the site that can enhance the commercial operation, attract more visitors and increase awareness and understanding of the importance of Taylor’s.
THE Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust says a new project to secure the long-term future of the John Taylor foundry in Loughborough is now underway.
And a major application to the Heritage Lottery Fund is due to be submitted in December this year.
Having been rescued from administration a few years ago, John Taylor & Co has spent the last few years quietly restoring the fortunes of this historic business and historic factory site.
In 2016 the directors established the Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust to hold the site in perpetuity, protect its unique archives, manufacturing methods and tools and prepare a basis for pursuing the comprehensive restoration of the buildings.
Since that time, work has been ongoing to prepare restoration proposals that can ensure the long-term survival of Taylor’s as a vital part of our national heritage.
Trustees and John Taylor staff have been working hard over the last 18 months to develop proposals for the future of the site that can enhance the commercial operation, attract more visitors and increase awareness and understanding of the importance of Taylor’s. The proposals include: • Creating a new state of the art archive to house a national collection of historic documents and objects relating to thousands of bells and bell-towers around the world
• Creating a new, accessible, high-level walkway to allow visitors to move around the foundry safely in their own time to observe every stage in the manufacturing process
• Restoring the carillon and its tower, the first in the world to be harmonically tuned
• Upgrading facilities to provide a new ringing centre to help preserve the art of bell-ringing and give people from all walks of life the oppor- tunity to ring a peal
• Improving interpretation and overhauling the existing museum to create a facility that meets modern expectations
• Delivering comprehensive repairs and sensitive restoration of the two large Grade II* Listed buildings that make up the bellfoundry
• Protecting the age-old processes and machinery while providing space to explore how 21st Century technologies can help Taylor’s to combine centuries of tradition with cutting edge manufacturing techniques.
The Trust has benefitted from three modest grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Architectural Heritage Fund and Pilgrim Trust which have helped pay for some of the feasibility work.
Proposals for the comprehensive restoration of the site will form the subject of a major application to the Heritage Lottery Fund due to be submitted in December this year.
The HLF will then consider the application before making a decision in spring 2018.
In parallel to working on the proposals for the restoration of the site, the Trust says it has been extremely fortunate to have applied successfully to Historic England for funds to undertake urgent repair works.
The site has been on the Historic England Heritage At Risk Register for many years due to longstanding problems with areas of historic roofs and rainwater goods. Overseen by a team of specialist advisors and contractors two packages of repairs have now been successfully completed, setting the pattern for future repair methods.
Dr Ben Robinson, principal adviser, Heritage at Risk from Historic England’s East Midlands office said: “Historic England is delighted to have been able to grant-aid repairs to roofs and high-level masonry, which were in very poor condition.
“Nowhere else in the country will you find splendid bells being made in their original, purpose-built historic foundry premises, and it is very important that this continues. There is still much to do, but these vital repairs represent major progress.”