Visit to Whitechapel Bell Foundry

Visit to Whitechapel Bell Foundry Late on a wintery Saturday in November about twenty BCA members plus four colleagues from DfID gathered at Whitechapel Bell Foundry near Aldgate, London for what proved to be a fascinating tour around one of London’s less well-known corners. We were shown around by the present Master Founder and Director of the firm, Alan Hughes who gave a very lively explanation of the history and work of the foundry. It has been in existence since 1570 and is the oldest manufacturing company in the country. Indeed it might even be older as there is evidence linking it to early Master Founders going back to 1420. The firm was first established near Aldgate to the east of the City of London. This was where all noisy smelly business gathered as the prevailing winds are from the west and therefore blew the smalls away from the residential areas.

The front door into the Foundry from Whitechapel Road. The present building dates from 1670 although the Foundry only moved there in 1738 and over the years expanded into several adjacent buildings. The site is still small and cramped and there are constraints on the size of bells that can be cast. The building is Grade II listed and this also constrains making changes. Over the centuries the Foundry has cast some very famous bells including the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia in 1752 and Big Ben in 1858. Several bells cast for London churches in the 1580s are still in use! More recently the bells that led the 2012 Diamond Jubilee River Pageant came from the Foundry. (The bells were actually being cast for the church of St James Garlickhythe but were ‘loaned’ for the occasion.) We were shown the different areas of the factory and the process of casting bells was explained. It is mixture of very ancient techniques harnessed to modern technology – for example calculating and testing the pitch of the bell is now computerized.

Our group in the main ground floor workshop On the top floor is a very cramped carpenters’ workshop where the frame and wheels to hold and operate the bells are prepared. The low ceiling meant that anyone taller than 5ft 8 ins had to stoop!

Handbells are an important part of the Foundry's output The tour takes about 90 minutes and if you would like to visit the Foundry details of tours can be found on their website: http://www.whitechapelbellfoundry.co.uk/