Whitechapel Bell Foundry

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The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry based in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. [1].

Contents

[edit] Origins

The foundry is based in buildings on Whitechapel Road dating from 1670, that were formerly used as a coaching inn known as The Artichoke. This replaced smaller premises situated on the north side of the road, but the foundry was also associated with Aldgate.

Traditionally, the foundry has been known by the name of the Master Founder and owner: from the 19th Century to 1968 it was known as Mears & Stainbank, but has since operated under the name of Whitechapel. The company dates back to at least 1570 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, but a continuous line of master founders in Whitechapel or nearby Aldgate exists since 1420.

The foundry's main business is in church bells and their fittings and accessories, although it also manufactures single tolling bells, carillon bells and handbells.

[edit] Notable bells

The foundry has produced a number of famous bells, including many of those in the London churches commemorated in the children's rhyme Oranges and Lemons. Other bells cast at Whitechapel include the original Liberty Bell (1752), which cracked, and a replacement casting to celebrate the bicentenary of American Independence in 1976. Big Ben in the Palace of Westminster was cast in 1858 and at 13½ tons is the largest bell ever cast at the foundry. This bell also cracked due to too heavy a hammer being initially installed. The crack and the subsequent retuning provides Big Ben's unique tone.

Whitechapel also supplied peals of 10 bells for Guildford Cathedral in Surrey in the years following the Second World War (later augmented to 12), and for the National Cathedral in Washington DC in 1964.

Many churches across the world have used bells cast at Whitechapel Bell Foundry, including:

The foundry's premises are now a Grade II listed building; a profile of Big Ben surrounds the entrance door while Big Ben's original moulding gauge is retained near the foundry's furnaces.[2]

[edit] Master founders at Whitechapel

These were the names that are cast into the surface of the bell, prior to Robert Mot, in 1574, the sign of three bells was often cast to indicate that it was a Whitechapel bell[3][4].

  • 1420 Robert Chamberlain of Aldgate,
  • 1426 William Chamberlain,
  • 1456 John Daniel,
  • 1470 John Daniel's Successor,
  • 1487 IW,
  • 1500-1515 Thomas Bullisdon,
  • 1506-1522 William Culverden,
  • 1523 Thomas Lawrence,
  • 1538 John Owen,
  • 1553 Thomas Kempe,
  • 1574 Robert Mot,
  • 1606 Joseph Carter,
  • 1610 William Carter,
  • 1616 Thomas Bartlet,
  • 1632 John Clifton,
  • 1640 Anthony Bartlet,
  • 1675 James Bartlet,
  • 1700 Richard Phelps,
  • 1735 Phelps and Lester,
  • 1738 Thomas Lester,
  • 1752 Lester and Pack,
  • 1769 Lester, Pack and Chapman,
  • 1776 Pack and Chapman,
  • 1781 Chapman and Mears,
  • 1784 William Mears,
  • 1787 William and Thomas Mears,
  • 1791 Thomas Mears I,
  • 1805 Mears and Son,
  • 1810 Thomas Mears II,
  • 1844 Charles and George Mears,
  • 1861 George Mears and Co,
  • 1865 Mears and Stainbank,
  • 1873 Robert Stainbank,
  • 1884 Alfred Lawson,
  • 1904 Arthur Hughes,
  • 1916 Albert Hughes,
  • 1945 Albert and William Hughes,
  • 1950 Albert, William and Douglas Hughes,
  • 1964 William and Douglas Hughes,
  • 1972 William, Douglas and Alan Hughes,
  • 1993 Douglas and Alan Hughes,
  • 1997 Alan and Kathryn Hughes.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Foundry History accessed 21 May 2007
  2. ^ Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Story of Big Ben accessed 21 May 2007
  3. ^ Whitechapel Bell foundry Identifying bells accessed 21 May 2007
  4. ^ John Rennie - Bells that tolled across the world accessed 21 May 2007

[edit] External links