The Loughborough Bell Foundry
Taylor’s has been commissioned by The Shipwrights’ Company to cast a traditional 19″ ship’s bell with a full set of canons for the Royal Navy’s flagship, the aircraft carrier HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH. The bell will be highly decorated with a rope band comprising alternating Ships’ and Shipwrights’ badges around its upper section, and will be […]
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It is rare to lose a ring of bells as a result of a conflagration, but last year a devastating fire tore through St John the Baptist’s Parish Church at Royston, Hertfordshire. The fire engulfed the whole church and burned out the tower, destroying all the floors, roof and all combustible bell fittings. The Taylor […]
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Most weeks groups of visitors come to Loughborough to witness the casting of new bells – often bells for their own parish church. They stand safely on the viewing gallery in the casting hall well above the floor of the foundry where the bells are to be cast. The roar of the furnace ceases as […]
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Taylor’s first moved to Loughborough in 1839 when they were contracted to provide a heavy peal of eight bells for the Parish Church. For the first 20 years in the town they cast bells at their foundry in Pack Horse Lane, before setting up the present foundry in the Cherry Orchard area of Loughborough in […]
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In these days of electronic communication and advanced radar it is pleasing to note that there is still a role for bells to play in keeping ships safe in trecherous shipping channels. Trinity House still orders new bells to be cast for buoys, and we are at present dealing with an order for four bells […]
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Taylor’s is undertaking a major rebuilding of the Canberra Carillon at the request of the Australian Government. As a cost saving measure when the carillon was installed, the bottom semi-tone was omitted! Now the money has been found to have the bell cast and installed as part of the major restoration project. The missing semi-tone […]
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It is not uncommon for us to receive bells that are damaged or cracked – the bell in the photograph has a large lump missing from its soundbow. If the bell is old or of particular historic importance it can be repaired and can continue in use. Working with Soundweld the bell is heated near […]
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In 1892 Taylor’s was commissioned to cast a 46 cwt Bourdon Bell for the village of Tong in Shropshire. This bell was hung with full ringing fittings in a new cast iron and steel bell frame independent of the 12cwt ring of six that also hang in the tower. In 1952 Taylor’s rehung the ring […]
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