Made in England
After a visit to the Taylor’s Bell Foundry in Loughborough, Maureen Al-kishtaini describes a striking fusion between past and present.
Taylor’s Bell Foundry
RECENTLY, the subject of bells – their variety, manufacture and beauty – came into my life. On a visit to Stokesay Castle in Shropshire we heard the sound of bells from Stokesay Church.
Inside, six bell-ringers were practising and for us, tired after exploring castle and grounds, it was a joy to stand and admire the skill of the ringers and the resounding sound.
Inspired, we booked a tour of Taylor’s Bell Foundry in Loughborough, the home of one of our country’s most distinctive industries and, since the Whitechapel Bell Foundry closed in May 2017, the sole surviving bell foundry in Britain.
It began in 1784 by Robert Taylor, apprentice at Joseph Eayre’s foundry at St Neots in Huntingdonshire. Robert saw an opportunity in Loughborough after work recasting the parish bells took him there. It was Robert’s son, however, John Taylor, who shaped the business as it is now, buying land in the Cherry Orchard district and later building the foundry in Freehold Street in 1839, where Taylor’s remains to this day.
In 1833, John compared his bells with those of another foundry, saying his rival’s were so roughly made as to be “enough to frighten anyone who may hear them suddenly and for the first time”!
According to Bill Hibbert, who has an extensive website on the acoustics of bells and a PHD from The Open University on the subject, this verse, written by John Taylor, also appears on the outside of the second bell at St Michael and All Angels Church, Penkridge, Staffordshire: “To speak with mellow tone but
ne’er to swear John Taylor taught us with a father’s
care Clappers: screws: wheels: and all
kept well in place Then for an age quite sound this
tower we’ll grace.” Clearly modesty was not one of John’s virtues! But the attention to detail as alluded to in the poem remains a cherished policy at John Taylor & Co. to this day.
The historical figures behind the foundry are, of course, of great interest, but for a full appreciation of
Taylor’s within the museum and on the foundry tours, equal emphasis is placed on the actual making of the bells – from the age-old processes and machinery to the recently introduced, state-of-the-art manufacturing methods.
For this reason, and thanks to a grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Pilgrim Trust and the Architectural Fund, a high-level walkway was built, allowing visitors a bird’s-eye view of the workshop where they can see first hand the dirt and physical effort of the bell-casting process.
It is, after all, no easy task casting a bell, not only due to obvious factors such as size and weight, but also the skill required to make them in such a way that they ring out to perfection.
As long-time Michigan State University carilloneur, Wendell J. Wescott, stated in his book, Bells and Their Music: “When listening to bells, the connoisseur evaluates not only their ‘in-tuneness’ but such qualities as clarity, brilliance, mellowness, tonal warmth, subtlety, depth of resonance and duration of ring.”
There is clearly much to consider when deciding if a bell rings as it should. On a tour of the foundry you are encouraged to try “sounding” the bells on display yourself to discover the variety of sound created.
One can also hear recordings of Taylor’s bells at various churches and cathedrals on their website.
So, what is involved in making a bell? First, the inner mould is prepared on a baseplate, usually made of loam (sand with a high clay content).the mould is built up by hand and shaped using a crook of the right size for a particular bell. An outer mould, also made of loam and shaped on the crook, is then fitted over the inner core and clamped firmly to the baseplate.
This assembled mould is buried in the sandpit and fitted with a pouring box. The molten metal, heated to a fierce temperature of 1200 degrees centigrade, is first poured into a ladle hanging from an overhead crane.
The ladle is carried by the crane over to the sandpit where the molten
metal is poured into the mould through the pouring box. After cooling for three to four days in the sandpit, the bell inside is then lifted and laid on its side and the inner mould is carefully broken. The new bell then drops from the mould.
Most bells are made of metal, though there are exceptions. A typical church bell is normally cast in bronze, an alloy of 23% tin and 77% copper. The clapper inside is usually iron or steel, while the crown of modern bells is bolted on to a cast-iron headstock.
“It’s wonderful to think you’re taking part in history,” Taylor’s Mary Barrass says, after describing herself as “museum manager amongst other things”. “It’s quite emotional.”
As well as the large bells used in churches or in important public buildings, Taylor’s also makes smaller bells for carillons – a musical instrument which uses at least 23 cup-shaped bells cast in bronze and is played by a carilloneur from a keyboard like an organ or piano.
Popular in parts of Europe, there are 19 carillons in the UK, several made by Taylor’s. One is in Loughborough’s Queen’s Park, not far away.
The Loughborough Carillon Tower, completed in 1923, was designed by Sir Walter Tapper and built as a war memorial to the servicemen who lost their lives in WWI. It has 47 Taylor’s-cast bells. The Carillon Chimes, music commissioned to accompany the opening of the bell tower, was composed by Sir Edward Elgar.
Set in an imposing red brick tower, the carillon is at the top of the building, from where there are spectacular views of the town. The tower is due to reopen this Spring on Good Friday, April 19, 2019, after a period of renovation.
Over the 234 years that the foundry business has been operated by the Taylor family, there have been highs and lows. Known worldwide, having made bells for churches from Australia to America, Ireland to New Zealand (Christchurch Cathedral sending all 12 bells back for repair after the earthquake in February 2011), Taylor’s has the claim of casting the largest peal of bells in 1878 for St Paul’s Cathedral.
Three years later, they cast the Great Paul – at 16½ tons, this is the largest bell ever made in the British Isles.
Recent turbulent times meant in 2009 the business had to be rescued from administration due to falling orders. Thanks to a merger with bell-hangers Eayre and Smith, and investment by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Taylor’s is now thriving.
“We’re like a phoenix rising from the ashes,” Mary says proudly.
Such prosperity seems assured. Recognised for its importance to English heritage and industry, more restoration work is planned to repair the roofs and high-level masonry, and as well as the roughly 100 bells a year that Taylor’s make from scratch, a steady stream of work comes from restoring existing church bells in village churches throughout Britain to make them sound perfect or get them working properly.
A visit to Taylor’s is an extraordinary day out offering not only a glimpse into our heritage but also a profound insight into how past and present can work together. Perhaps most importantly it provokes a new wonder and respect for church bells when you hear them, such as that memorable occasion for me at Stokesay Castle – a sound that has imbued our landscape for generations.
As the largest working bell foundry in the world, Taylor’s is an English institution of which we have every reason to feel proud. Long may the bells ring.
Article written with additional information from John Wright.