Daily Mail, Monday, August 5, 2019 Page 17

Pictures: PA/GARY DAWSON/MEDIADRUMIMAGES Sound of history: The Liberty , which was cast in in 1752. Far left, a bell is made in 1919 and (above) the now closed foundry e already have a national flag, anthem and tree. But were ­complete outstanding bell orders. we ever to choose a national what a Meanwhile, Raycliff’s team began preparing plans. sound, I think most of us would Great care, they insist, has been suggest the noise which first taken to include a sympathetic Wemanated from these delightfully grimy interpretation of the site’s past. old rooms more than 150 years ago. The plans, though, are rejected by For it was here on April 10, 1858, that a team of campaigners such as historian Victorian foundry workers tipped a vat of molten and television presenter Dan tin and copper between two enormous moulds ­Cruickshank, who lives nearby. He crafted from sand, clay, horse manure and goats’ likens the foundry to the Royal hair to cast the giant hour-bell for the new Hospital, Chelsea, another ­ondon Houses of Parliament. landmark still performing its It would be known for ever after as . ­original purpose. A full-size template of the 13.5-ton ‘We should be thankful that ­masterpiece can still be seen at the building. places like this still exist because Yet our most illustrious clanger is but one they are incredibly rare,’ he says. of umpteen famous names to emerge ‘It’s not about conserving a dead ding thing but maintaining a living from the in East . thing and the experts are ada- During the 18th century, this mant that it can be done.’ place made the Liberty I meet Stephen Clarke, a Bell, symbol of American chartered accountant independence. and trustee of the UK Locals remind you of Historic Buildings another claim to fame. Preservation Trust. London folklore dic- H e p o i n t s t o tates that you can only t h e h e a l t h y be a true if demand for tra- you were born within ditional earshot of the bells of across Asia. St Mary-le-Bow. Guess Meanwhile, the who made the Bow Bells. trust has teamed Or sing along to that much- dong! up with the Factum loved nursery rhyme — ‘Oranges Foundation, a Madrid- based organisation which and Lemons, say the Bells of St applies new technologies to tradi- Clement’s…’ — and most of those tional arts and crafts. They have bells were created here on called the Raycliff scheme ‘cultural . asset-stripping’ and have produced In other words, this place is to an alternative plan which would bell-making what Rolls-Royce is It’s the foundry that forged Big Ben incorporate modern technologies to engineering. It is an integral on the upper levels while retaining part of our industrial history, hav- a fully operational foundry on the ing manufactured the same prod- factory floor. uct from the reign of Elizabeth I AND America’s . Now it’s Alan Hughes, for his part, insists through to that of Elizabeth II. that the old foundry could no Though destroyed longer make ends meet. almost everything hereabouts, the That, however, is disputed by foundry somehow survived the being turned into a boutique hotel some of his former staff, including war in one piece and then worked senior bell-maker Nigel Taylor, flat out making new bells for all now a tower bell consultant. those ruined churches. He believes that the business fell When new bells were needed to — and locals aren’t taking it quietly victim to a combination of debts mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubi- and defeatist management. ‘There lee and to open the 2012 Olympics, was a downturn in the market they were made here. But then, in case from the company’s stand at August 1966 and I reckon we must which the Hughes family inter- 2017, the furnace went out. the Great Exhibition of 1851. have received some sort of offer preted as a permanent decline,’ he The premises were sold to an how i see it Creaky stairs lead up to snug for the place every month even tells me. ‘But there is a buoyant American financier with a new wood-panelled rooms or dusty then,’ says Mr Hughes, 70. market. We just needed some vision for the place: a chi-chi bou- Dickensian workshops. He says that most buyers were aggressive marketing.’ tique hotel and private members’ by Robert Down below, well-oiled chains simply after prime office space on During his 40 years at the foun- club with a roof-top pool. still hang from huge pulleys. I the edge of the City of London. dry, he met many VIP visitors, stare into the ‘Old Foundry’ pit However, one agent had a buyer including the Prince of Wales. The Hardman where the ­Liberty Bell was who would preserve some sort of latter looked round in 2012. ‘He cast in 1752 (it cracked when rung bell-making activity on site. loved it,’ says Mr Taylor, ‘and I rtists, heritage experts for the first time in remember him saying to me: “You and East End preservation ‘breathing new life’ into the site, — a fault which the foundry must keep this place going.”’ groups were appalled. A the preservation lobby say it is blamed on the shippers). In the end, the fate of the foundry vigorous local campaign to merely a sop and have produced a So how did it come to be a aving ensured that his 16 may hinge on its neighbours. A few Ablock the proposals has been punchy online film saying so. ­prospective party pad for staff were taken care of, he yards away stand the East London gathering momentum, led by a The proposals are with the plan- hedge-funders in search of a pool- quietly agreed a deal for a Mosque and London Muslim Cen- charity founded by the Prince of ning committee of Tower Hamlets side mojito? sum in the region of £5 mil- tre. Their views carry great clout Wales. The Prince has made no Borough Council, which had been The Whitechapel Bell Foundry lionH in November 2016. The buyer, with the council and are clear. public comment, but is said to be due to pass judgment last week. passed through various owners a property dealer, resold the site ‘It would be a shocking loss to watching closely. That decision has now been until, in 1904, it was acquired by for a reported £7.9 million to U.S. Tower Hamlets if this important, So, the new owner has drawn up deferred for three months because the Hughes family. Four genera- entrepreneur, Bippy Siegal. historic institution, which is a a plan which, say his architects, of Roman remains beneath the tions on, Alan Hughes was finding As word spread, the heritage treasure of national renown, were will preserve the spirit of the place. building (how much history can it hard to keep it going. He says lobby moved fast — but not fast to be sacrificed just to make a As well as a 108-room, six-storey you cram into one spot?) that a combination of falling enough. The trustees of the UK hotel,’ says the mosque in its for- hotel, club and penthouse pool, So I have come to see what is at demand for church bells, regula- Historic Building Preservation mal submission to the council, the site will include art studios stake. It is historian heaven. Here, tions on emissions and a projected Trust, founded by the Prince of adding that it stands full square and a small-scale foundry that will deep in the heart of Jack the Rip- £500,000 bill for rewiring all played Wales, implored Alan Hughes to behind the campaigners. still produce ding-a-ling hand per territory, you walk into a Geor- a part. Having passed retirement sell the foundry to them, but Mr It would certainly be a fitting bells. The public will be able to gian house which is London’s old- age, he says his children had no Hughes was sticking to his deal. epilogue to the extraordinary his- view the casting process through est factory (the foundry relocated desire to take it on so, with heavy Mr Siegal’s company, Raycliff, tory of this place if the UK’s oldest a window in an adjacent cafe. here in the days of George II). The heart, he decided to call it a day. had agreed to let the workforce producer of church bells ended up But while developers call this entrance hall contains the display ‘I started work at the foundry in stay put for a year in order to being saved by a mosque.