Old Bells, Big Bells, Handbells
On May 13th, with about 20 other friends and acquaintances, we visited the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in the heart of London. This is the oldest manufacturing establishment in the UK -- which dates its founding to 1570, though there are references to it as early as 1490.
Some of the famous bells made here include those in St. Paul's Cathedral, the Liberty Bell of Philadelphia and Big Ben -- the largest bell in the tower of the Houses of Parliament. These are all examples of "tower bells", made to be hung and rung in towers of churches or other buildings, and there are thousands of them throughout the world that came from this small foundry, with 25 employees. The bells are still made using traditional methods (this is, after all, England -- and traditions, once started, tend to last forever).
Our guide was the "bell founder"; the "founder" being the person who runs the foundry. He was a member of the fourth generation of his family to run the foundry (which has been in existence for about 30 generations). The traditional process for manufacturing the large bells includes a molding "loam" made of horse manure, goat hair and clay. This mixture is placed in a large iron mold which defines the outside shape of the bell; the loam is scraped out with templates so that its outer surface conforms to the inner surface of the bell. The molten metal (bronze of about 77% copper and 23% tin) is then poured between the iron mold and the loam.
The foundry not only makes the bells, but they also make the entire mechanism to ring them in a tower -- including the wooden wheel attached to the bell frame, which the bell rope goes over, as well as the entire metal supporting structure. In fact, today, they tend to be hired to fully outfit a bell tower, making the entire assembly and sending a team to install, test and tune the whole installation.
They are also a major (there are only three) maker of English handbells for bell choirs. (This was of especial interest to Chuck, who has played in the handbell choirs in three churches for a total of about 9 years.)
Some photos from our tour are at: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/1503802
Some of the famous bells made here include those in St. Paul's Cathedral, the Liberty Bell of Philadelphia and Big Ben -- the largest bell in the tower of the Houses of Parliament. These are all examples of "tower bells", made to be hung and rung in towers of churches or other buildings, and there are thousands of them throughout the world that came from this small foundry, with 25 employees. The bells are still made using traditional methods (this is, after all, England -- and traditions, once started, tend to last forever).
Our guide was the "bell founder"; the "founder" being the person who runs the foundry. He was a member of the fourth generation of his family to run the foundry (which has been in existence for about 30 generations). The traditional process for manufacturing the large bells includes a molding "loam" made of horse manure, goat hair and clay. This mixture is placed in a large iron mold which defines the outside shape of the bell; the loam is scraped out with templates so that its outer surface conforms to the inner surface of the bell. The molten metal (bronze of about 77% copper and 23% tin) is then poured between the iron mold and the loam.
The foundry not only makes the bells, but they also make the entire mechanism to ring them in a tower -- including the wooden wheel attached to the bell frame, which the bell rope goes over, as well as the entire metal supporting structure. In fact, today, they tend to be hired to fully outfit a bell tower, making the entire assembly and sending a team to install, test and tune the whole installation.
They are also a major (there are only three) maker of English handbells for bell choirs. (This was of especial interest to Chuck, who has played in the handbell choirs in three churches for a total of about 9 years.)
Some photos from our tour are at: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/1503802
posted by Chuck and Kathi Calvano @ 2:03 PM
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