TheWhitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of itsWhitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain.[1]
Thebell foundry primarily madechurch bells and their fittings and accessories, although it also provided single tollingbells,carillon bells andhandbells. The foundry was notable for being the original manufacturer of theLiberty Bell, a famous symbol ofAmericanindependence, and for re-castingBig Ben, which rings from the north clock tower (theElizabeth Tower) at theHouses of Parliament in London.
The Whitechapel premises are a Grade II*[2]listed building. The foundry closed on 12 June 2017, after nearly 450 years of bell-making and 250 years at its Whitechapel site,[3] with the final bell cast given to theMuseum of London along with other artefacts used in the manufacturing process,[4] and the building has been sold.[5][6]
Following the sale of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, the bell patents were sold to the bell-hanging companyWhites of Appleton in Oxfordshire, with which the foundry had a business relationship for 197 years. The rights to tower bell production are now under the ownership of Westley Group Ltd. Production of presentation and hand bells continues under the name Bells of Whitechapel Ltd.[7]
The bell founding industry around Aldgate and Whitechapel can be traced back to at least 1360, and a few years later,Geoffrey Chaucer, living in a room in the Aldgate itself, described the presence of a bell founding industry in the area.[8] The Master Founders (bell makers) ofAldgate andWhitechapel, can be traced back to 1420.
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry company began in 1570. The last premises at 32–34Whitechapel Road, backing on to Plumbers Row, dates from 1670 and was formerly acoaching inn called "The Artichoke" which had been damaged in theGreat Fire of London.[9] The Artichoke ceased trading in 1738 and the following year the Whitechapel Bell Foundry moved into the premises. The foundry remained at the site until May 2017.[3][10] It was one of only two bell foundries left in the UK and had been in continuous production for almost 450 years.[5]
The three bellsmanufacturer's mark can be seen on the bells and the three bells sign hung over the door of the Whitechapel site.[11] According to previous owners Alan and Kathryn Hughes, the foundry had been a family-owned company throughout its history continuing when Alan Hughes's grandfather bought the company in 1904,[9] until its sale to Westley group in 2017.[7]
The business had to adapt throughout the centuries and in modern times, with new churches being built less frequently, produced handbells and doorbells. It responded to a surge in orders for table bells, following the popularity of theITVperiod dramaDownton Abbey, with a third of its sales going overseas.[12] In 2013 the foundry launched an online shop selling house bells, musical instruments and personalised merchandise.[12] The large bell business has been largely unaffected by periods of financial depression, partly because from enquiry to completion an order takes on average 11 years.[9] DuringWorld War II the foundry was used as a munitions production line, making casings for theWar Office.[11]
The government not only guaranteed the orders. They guaranteed good prices and they also guaranteed quick payment, which is something that the Church of England has never managed to do with us.
— Alan Hughes[11]
The foundry was particularly busy after the war, replacing bells lost or damaged by fire inbombing raids across London.[13] Hughes said "Our business runs counter to the national economy. If the economy goes down and unemployment rises, we start to get busy. Last year was our busiest in thirty years, an increase of 27% on the previous year. Similarly, the nineteen twenties were very busy." Hughes also tells a story of an order requested of his grandfather in the 1890s which his father quoted again for in the 1950s and he himself gave a quote for in the 1970s. The order was finally completed in 1998.[3]
In March 2017 a consortium of heritage groups, includingSave Britain's Heritage, the East End Preservation Society, theSociety for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, theAncient Monuments Society and theRoyal Academy of Arts attempted to have the foundry's Grade II*[2] premises re-listed as a Grade Ilisted building as anasset of community value to preserve the historical importance of the building within the wider east end community.[14][15]
The foundry was sold to US investor Raycliff who proposed their intention to convert the site into a 100[16] to 108[17] room hotel at the rear of the building with a bell themed cafe[18] while maintaining space for the production of smaller bells including hand bells.[19] Raycliff hired local architectural practice 31/44 for the design.[20][21][22]The plan has the support of Historic England,[23] described by one journalist as “a public body which gives paid advice to property developers to encourage them to get through the existing planning systems.”[24] The application has been controversial.[25][26][27][28] The application was called in by the government on 22 January 2020, preventing theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets from proceeding with the planning application pending the outcome of further public inquiry. The London Bell Foundry, a not for profit company dedicated to saving the historic foundry as a working enterprise, made an offer to purchase the site in November 2022.[29][30][31][32]
Many churches across the world have bells cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, but arguably its two best-known examples are not in places of worship. In 1752 the foundry (known at the time as Lester and Pack)[34] cast theLiberty Bell, which was commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary ofWilliam Penn's 1701Charter of Privileges,Pennsylvania's original constitution. As a result of damage sustained during its stormy passage across the Atlantic, the bell cracked when it was first rung, and after repeated repairs cracked again.[10]
Big Ben, which tolls the hour at thePalace of Westminster, was cast in 1858 and rung for the first time on 31 May 1859. "Big Ben" weighs 13½ tons and is the largest bell ever cast at the foundry.[10] This bell also cracked because too heavy a hammer was initially used. The crack and the subsequent retuning gives Big Ben its present distinctive tone. A profiletemplate of Big Ben surrounds the entrance door of the Whitechapel Foundry, while the original moulding gauge is retained near the furnaces.[35] The final bill for Big Ben came to £572.[36]
Whitechapel has supplied bells to several cathedrals.Guildford Cathedral inSurrey had a peal of 10 bells (later augmented to 12),[37]Canterbury Cathedral augmented its bells to a peal of 14 in 1981,[38] and theNational Cathedral inWashington, D.C. in 1962.[39] The foundry produced"Great Tom" atLincoln Cathedral,[40] the "Clock Bells" atSt Paul's Cathedral, the bells ofWestminster Abbey[41] Upon the construction of its tower between 1924 and 1942, the foundry cast 14 bells for theLiverpool Cathedral which all include psalm texts engravings.[42] The bells are notable for being the heaviestchange ringingpeal of bells in the world. The foundry's bellfounder at that time, Albert Hughes, is commemorated in astained glass window in the nave.[41]
Churches with bells from Whitechapel include ones as near asSt Mary-le-Bow,Cheapside and as far as theArmenian Church, Chennai, India. English examples includeSt Dunstan's, Stepney andSt Dunstan's, Mayfield;St Michael's, Beckwithshaw;St Mary-le-More, Wallingford[43]Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Killinghall; and St Michael and All Angels, Leaden Roding. American churches in theAnglican Communion, for exampleSt. Michael's Church, inCharleston, South Carolina. Australian churches includeSt Bartholomew's Church, Burnley,[44] St Stephen's Anglican Church,Newtown;St Philip's Church[45] andSt James' Church, Sydney.[46] In Canada, the towers ofNotre-Dame Basilica inMontreal house one of the world's largest bells and a ten-bell carillon.[47]
Bells not in churches include civic focal points such as aclock tower; Thomas Mears II cast the bell forHerne Bay Clock Tower in 1837.[48]The Old Post Office inWashington, D.C., USA, has a ring of 10 bells in the key of D (tenor 26 cwt) that were cast by the Whitechapel Foundry in 1976, installed in 1982, and dedicated in 1983. The bells range in weight from 581 to 2953 pounds. These bells, referred to as The Congress Bells, were a gift to the US Congress from Britain'sDitchley Foundation to celebrate the bicentennial of American independence.
The sterling silver bellsilver ships bell on post WW II HMS Ark Royals(4 - 1955) and(5 - 1985) is said by (by Taylor's of Loughborough to have been cast by Whitechapel Foundry.
Following theSeptember 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, the company made a tribute bell, the Bell of Hope, as a gift from the people of London to the city of New York.[12] It is rung at 08:46 each year on the anniversary of the tragedy, the time the first plane hit the first tower.[49] It was designed by architectPaul Byard and was rung for the first time on American soil by theBishop of New York, the Rt. Rev.Mark S. Sisk. The bell resided atTrinity Church (Manhattan),[50] before being moved toSt. Paul's Chapel. In 2005 it was rung again four times for the people killed in the7 July 2005 London bombings.[51]
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry designed theOlympic Bell seen at theopening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games, although it was not cast on the premises. The furnaces at Whitechapel could not provide the 23 tons of molten metal required to make the bell, so it was manufactured at a factory in the Netherlands which normally produces ship's propellers.[52]
The Olympic Bell is the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world and the widest bell in Britain.[53] It now hangs in theQueen Elizabeth Olympic Park, but is not rung because it is deemed too loud to be rung without disturbing local residents.[54]
The Foundry cast theRoyal Jubilee Bells used on the lead barge for theThames Diamond Jubilee Pageant the same summer,[55] which now hang in the church ofSt James Garlickhythe.
Damon Albarn had three bells cast from the foundry for "On Melancholy Hill" for theGorillaz albumPlastic Beach, although they were not used on the final song. These were cast in the notes D, A and C-sharp. However one of the bells is often used on live versions of "We Got the Power".
The last bell to be cast at the foundry was on 22 March 2017,[7] and was given to theMuseum of London along with historical artefacts from the premises. The manufacturing patents for the Whitechapel bells have been sold to the bell-hanging company,Whites of Appleton in Oxfordshire, with whom the foundry has had a business relationship for 197 years.[4][7]
The names on this list are those that are cast into the surface of Whitechapel bells of different dates. Prior to Robert Mot, in 1574, thesign of three bells was often cast to indicate that it was a Whitechapel (or Aldgate) bell.[56][57]
{{cite web}}:|last1= has generic name (help){{cite web}}:|last1= has generic name (help)Raycliff have also hired the local architectural practice 31/44 to design scrupulously sensitive adjustments to the old buildings and a dignified form for the hotel.
The Raycliff plan also has the support of Historic England, the statutory body, which has pointed to its inclusion of a small bell production unit.
The owner of Whitechapel Bell Foundry has told EastLondonLines that campaigners objecting to the redevelopment of the site have 'misled the public'.
Plans to transform the five-hundred-year-old Whitechapel Bell Foundry into a boutique hotel and multi-purpose space were approved last night despite strong opposition from local residents.
[T]he choice is between a properly financed scheme that will preserve this uniquely evocative site (and resuscitate it as a working foundry), or a vague and financially unsustainable plan from well-meaning people who don't even own the building.
{{cite web}}:|last1= has generic name (help)
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