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 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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On the flag that flies above the Foundry Bell Tower and on all our bells, the emblem of the Lamb and Flag appears. The origin of this Taylor badge dates to the mid 19th century when John Taylor (1797 – 1858) commissioned Bristol Architect, Charles Hansom, to provide the Company with “a tracing of a […]
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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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Although it rarely appears in photographs we do have a small foundry behind the main foundry. The small foundry is in use weekly with castings of the many small bells and fittings that are in constant demand. Handbells, longcase clock bells and town crier type bells are regularly cast here, together with the numerous small […]
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Using steam at high pressure to prepare hardwood for being bent into unnatural shapes has long been practiced, and is a regular occurrence in our wood craft workshops. New bell wheels are being manufactured constantly, and old bell wheels come in for re-soling and re-shrouding. After steaming for several hours the wood is clamped into […]
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The use of cast iron components, especially for ringing peals, forms a major part of our business, and our Foundry is kept busy with new casts every week. Bell frames, headstocks, clappers, bearing housings, ceiling bosses, and carillon and clock hammers are constantly in demand. All have to be moulded from wooden patterns, be cast, […]
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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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