Tag: sunday

The stately parish church of All Saints in the town of Loughborough in Leicestershire has an impressive tower containing 10 bells. The world over, the name Loughborough is associated with Taylors Bellfoundry. Members of the Taylor family had been casting bells since the 1780s in various locations like St Neots, Oxford and Devon. In 1838 Loughborough Parish Church decided to have their bells recast. They were insistent that the new bells should be cast in Loughborough, and so John Taylor duly moved to Loughborough to cast the bells and stayed there. This church is duly important in creation of a piece of ringing history! The Taylor foundry moved to a purpose built building further out of the town in 1859 and it’s there they stayed. In 1899 the bells were again recast by Taylors, who a few years earlier had begun to make great improvements in the art of tuning and were willing to create a “showpiece” ring. The back four of this ring of ten were cast using the “Lost Wax” casting method, where a wax model of the intended bell is made and the mould created around it. As you can see they are rather ornate. The tenor weighs 30-2-0 (1549kg) and is in Db. The bells hang in an A frame dating from 1887. The tower moves quite a bit when the bells are rung and they are a bit of a challenge but damn they are worth the effort. One can hear these bells from inside the foundry workshop, thundering away magnificently over Loughborough. One of my favourite rings of bells and it was a …