X-Nico

6 unusual facts about Whitechapel Bell Foundry


Armenian Church, Chennai

The remaining two bells date to 1837 and were cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, then known as Mears & Stainbank, with inscriptions reading "Thomas Mears, Founder, London".

Holybourne

In autumn 2009, eight new bells manufactured at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry were installed in the church by Whites Bellhangers, of Appleton, Oxon, who also cleaned up the existing three bells and re-hung them on a new bell-frame installed higher up in the steeple and connected them back to the clock to continue their chiming role.

St Dunawd's Church, Bangor Is-coed

Four of these were cast in 1727 by Abraham Rudhall II, one was cast in 1811 by John Rudhall and the sixth was cast in 1865 by Mears and Stainbank.

St. Margaret's Church, Rochester

For the latter quarter of the 20th century the bells were unringable, but a major project in 2005-6 saw the bells removed, retuned (at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) and rehung in a new frame.

Whitechapel Bell Foundry

The foundry produced "Great Tom" at Lincoln Cathedral, which can be heard from a distance of 13 miles, the "Clock Bells" at St Paul's Cathedral, the bells of Westminster Abbey and the 13 bells located at Liverpool's Anglican cathedral which are notable for being the heaviest change-ringing peal of bells in the world.

Many churches across the world have bells cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, including: Armenian Church, Chennai; St Dunstan's, Mayfield; St Dunstan's, Stepney; St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside; St. Michael's Church, Charleston; St Stephen's Anglican Church, Newtown and St Philip's Church.


St. Peter and St. Paul, Dagenham

A peal of six bells was cast for the newly constructed tower in 1804 by Thomas Mears of Whitechapel.


see also