The Loughborough Bell Foundry
Taylor’s Bell Foundry has probably cast more large bells than any other Foundry in the history of bell founding – unlike other founders we have never farmed out our casting to other foundries, and all the large bells with the Taylor name on them have been cast here. More than 200 bells weighing between 2 […]
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Taylor’s has a proud tradition of building carillons, and this continues. Our carillons grace cathedrals, town halls, universities and civic towers in the UK, the USA, South Africa, Holland, Canada and Australia, and we are looking forward to replacing our own Foundry four octave carillon as part of our buildings restoration project. We pride ourselves […]
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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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London’s All Hallows, Gospel Oak has had three new bells dedicated to complete a chime of nine bells ( an octave and one semi-tone). We supplied six of the bells in the 1950’s, together with a frame to accommodate the nine bells, so the completion of the scheme has taken some time. It is traditional […]
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Over the past century and a quarter the use of cast iron and steel for bell frames has become the norm. If designed with sufficient strength these materials give the absolute rigidity that it is so important to the smooth handling of change ringing bells. Taylor’s has produced hundreds of such frames, and we are […]
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Traditionally all bell founders dug a pit and buried their bell moulds before casting – this was primarily to protect themselves from the molten metal when casting should the bell case split. With the introduction of much stronger cast iron bell copes in the mid 19th century the risk of the cases splitting was virtually […]
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Restoring and conserving old bells forms an important part of our business, and with generations of experience we can claim to be experts in this field. Removing cast-in iron crown staples from the crowns of these bells lessens the risk of them becoming cracked in their heads, and designing and manufacturing headstocks that allow original […]
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Denison Mears was the son of Gwendoline, the daughter of John William Taylor Junior. Denison died in 2018 and left a bequest in his will of £55,500 which will be used towards the £1 million matched funding needed to release the major grant from The Heritage Lottery Fund for the restoration and development of the […]
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It’s good to bring in young blood so that the craft skills of generations can be handed on. Sam Armistead has joined our team as a Foundry Apprentice and he’s making a very good impression. We hope Sam will be with us for many years – he and our other young people are the face […]
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