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Taylor's Bell Foundry - geograph.org.uk - 2734508
Taylor's bell foundry in Freehold Street, Loughborough, in late 2011

John Taylor & Co, commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is in Loughborough, in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. The business originated in the 14th century and became Taylor's after the Taylor family took over in 1784.

In September 2009 Taylors went into administration but was bought out of administration by a consortium named UK Bellfoundries Ltd, led by Andrew Wilby, which re-financed and re-established the business. Since then the company has re-established its presence both in the UK and in the carillon and other export markets.

The company manufactures bells for use in clock towers, rings of bells for change ringing, chimes, and carillons. In 2005 John Taylor's had merged with Eayre & Smith Ltd (bellhangers) and from 2005 until 2009 was Taylors Eayre & Smith Ltd.

The Foundry has a museum of bells and bellfounding which is the only one of its kind in the UK. It is one of the few Victorian purpose-built manufacturing sites still being used for its original purpose. Its campanile contains the most-pealed bells in the world.

History

The bells of St Stephen's Church, Bristol (3915213204)
Inside the belfry of St Stephen's Church, Bristol, England. In 1970 Taylor's cast five of the twelve bells and a new frame in which they re-hung all twelve.

The present company is part of a line of bellfounders dating back to Johannes de Stafford in the 14th century, who was also a mayor of Leicester. The Taylor family became involved in 1784 with Robert Taylor (1759–1830), and a foundry was established in Loughborough in 1839 by his son John Taylor (1797–1858), moving to the current site in 1859. The Taylors also had foundries in Oxford and St Neots between 1786 and 1854. During much of the later 19th century the foundry was under the management of John William Taylor (1827–1906). Taylor's were the first bellfounder to adopt "true-harmonic" tuning in the late 19th century. The foundry is based in buildings on Freehold Street which are Grade II* listed.

In 1963, Paul Taylor, last of the Taylor family in the business, appeared on the American TV panel show What's My Line?, challenging the panel with his occupation as a bell maker.

On 18 September 2009 the company went into administration. Mazars, who had previously been acting as advisors to the company during attempts to secure extra funding, were appointed administrators. On 2 October 2009 it was reported that the administrators were "optimistic about its future." On 15 October 2009, in a statement released by UK Bellfounders Ltd., a consortium of ringers, members of the bell industry and other investors, it was stated that the foundry would reopen on 19 October, reverting to the previous name of John Taylor & Co. Paul Taylor's widow, Mrs Merle Taylor, was Hon. President of the new company until her death. The current board since 2015 comprises Andrew W R Wilby (chairman and CEO), Laith R Reynolds, David E Potter, Michael J Semken, Simon E Adams, D Paul Mason and Andrew B Mills.

Before September 2009 the foundry was employing 26 people, and since then the new company employs 31 including 4 apprentices.

In 2016 the Directors of UK Bellfoundries Ltd founded the Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust and transferred ownership of the buildings, equipment, intellectual property and the Museum to that body in perpetuity to safeguard it for the future. The Trust received emergency grants to restore several parts of the building from Historic England as it was listed as a Grade II* building at risk. Further restoration was planned.

In 2018 the company established a subsidiary called John Taylor International, based in Australia, to serve the southern hemisphere markets.

The National Twelve Bell Contest is competed for annually by the leading teams in England for "The Taylor Trophy".

Notable bells

Bourdon Bell (Ann Arbor, MI)
Inscription on the Bourdon bell of the Baird Carillon at the University of Michigan

In 1881 Taylor's cast at Loughborough "Great Paul", which is the largest British cast bell in Britain, for St Paul's Cathedral London, weighing 17,002 kilograms (37,483 lb) or more than 17 metric tons. Rock band AC/DC used a 2000-pound cast bronze bell for the song, "Hells Bells", which was originally used on the Back in Black Tour in 1980. Many churches across the world have used bells cast at Taylor's Bell Foundry, including:

Tower Location Details of Bells cast Largest Bell cast (kg) Year(s) of casting Comments
Baird Carillon University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan,

USA

 55 bell carilllon 10,695 1936
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral Liverpool, Merseyside, UK bourdon bell "Great George" 14,900 1940 Third largest bell in the UK
Loughborough Memorial Carillon Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK 47 bell carillon 4,211 1923
Manchester Town Hall Manchester, UK 23 bell carillon, including 13 change ringing bells 2,170 1937
bourdon bell "Great Abel" 8,279 1882
Canberra National Carillon Canberra, Australia 57 bell carillon 6,108 1968-2019 Major overhaul in 2019, Taylor's cast new bass bell, largest bell cast at Taylor's for more than 25 years.
The Bok Tower Lake Wales, Florida, USA 60 bell carillon 10,544 1927
Yale Memorial Carillon Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA 54 bell carillon 6,078 1922
Kibbey Carillon Washington National Cathedral, Washington D.C, USA 53 bell carillon 10,697 1961-1963
Duke Chapel Carillon Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA 50 bell carillon 5,060 1932
St Mary's Church, Southampton Southampton, Hampshire, UK 10 change ringing bells 1,096 1945 Replaced a peal of ten also cast by Taylor's in 1912, destroyed in Southampton Blitz.

First ring of church bells in the UK to be restored post war.
Wells Cathedral Wells, Somerset, UK 2 change ringing bells including tenor bell 2,864 1877 tenor bell is 5th heaviest bell in the world hung for change ringing.
St Paul's Cathedral, London City of London, UK 12 change ringing bells 3,125 1878 3rd heaviest peal of bells in the world hung for change ringing
3 clock bells and bourdon bell "Great Paul" 17,002 1878 Great Paul is the heaviest bell ever cast at Taylor's and the second heaviest bell in the UK.
St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Dublin, Republic of Ireland 15 change ringing bells 2,307 1896-2007 Heaviest ring of bells in Ireland, and heaviest change ringing peal outside of the UK
Beverley Minster Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK 10 change ringing bells 2,105 1896-1901 Third heaviest ringing peal of ten in the world.
bourdon bell "Great John" 7,151 1902
Exeter Cathedral Exeter, Devon, UK 5 change ringing bells including tenor bell "Grandisson" 3,684 1902-1922 Second heaviest ring of bells hung for full circle ringing.
St Mary Redcliffe Bristol, UK 12 change ringing bells 2,575 1903-2012 Heaviest ring of bells hung for full circle ringing in the world not in a Cathedral.
Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK bourdon bell "Big Joe" 6,117 1908
Inveraray Bell Tower Inveraray, Argyll & Bute, UK 10 change ringing bells 2,112 1920 Heaviest peal of change ringing bells in Scotland.
Wills Memorial Building University of Bristol, Bristol, UK bourdon bell "Great George" 9,724 1925 Second heaviest bell rung by hand in the UK.
York Minster York, North Yorkshire, UK 14 change ringing bells 3,020 1925-1978 4th heaviest peal of bells in the world hung for change ringing.
35 bell carillon 1,215 1933-2008 Originally a chime of 11 bells from St Mary's Church, Nelson, Lancashire, increased to 35 bells in early 2000s. First UK Cathedral to have both a carillon and change ringing peal.
6 clock bells 3,069 2000 Known as the "Queen Mother Bells", they were cast to the specifications of the heaviest six change ringing bells at the Minster, to celebrate the Queen Mother's 100th birthday. Together with Great Peter (below), they form the deepest toned clock chime in the UK.
bourdon bell "Great Peter" 11,009 1927 Deepest toned hour bell in the UK. Heaviest bell in the UK still rung manually.
Nottingham Council House Nottingham, UK 5 clock bells including bourdon bell "Little John" 10,528 1928 Second deepest clock chime in the UK after York.
Worcester Cathedral Worcester, Worcestershire, UK 15 change ringing bells and bourdon bell 4,215 1868-1928 Ringing peal is 5th heaviest in the world by overall weight.
Buckfast Abbey Buckfastleigh, Devon, UK 14 change ringing bells 2,097 1935 Heaviest ring of bells in a Catholic Church in the UK.
bourdon bell "Hosanna" 7,476 1936 One of the largest bells in the UK still rung by hand.
Rainbow Bridge Carillon Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada 55 bell carrilon 8,909 1947
Malta Siege Bell Siege Bell Memorial, Valletta, Malta bourdon bell 10,899 1992
St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide Adelaide, Australia 8 change ringing bells 2,096 1946 Heaviest ring of bells in Australia, and heaviest tenor bell in the Southern Hemisphere.