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History

Bellfounding played a role in ancient civilizations. East bells of great size were cast centuries before the iron age in Europe. Portable bells came to Britain with Celtic Christianity and most of those which survive are associated with Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Britain

Legend gives the credit of introducing bells into Christian churches to a monk in the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland known by the name of Tancho. The sound of his first bell was so sweet and solemn that it was adopted as an indispensable part of the ornament of church and chapel and soon after of religious services themselves. Charlemagne is said to have heard it and sent the monk enough silver to make another bell, believing that by the use of silver a very rich tone would result. Tancho, however, confiscated most of the silver and produced a bell of mixed and very inferior metal; at the first swing of the clapper it broke and falling on his head killed him and the bell was thence forward venerated as the discoverer of the unfaithful manufacturer.

The ancient town of Lynn, in Norfolk, seems to have been the head-quarters of the bell-founders' art in the fourteenth century, and most probably much earlier. We yet meet with the names of Thomas de Lynn, William de Lenne, Johannes Godyng de Lynn; also the names of Wamlis and Schep. Their bells are scattered through Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and the adjoining counties. As their letters and ornamentations were nearly identical, we may conclude all these names to refer to one foundry. It were much to be wished that more specimens of their work remained. The West of England was mainly supplied with bells from Gloucester. We find one John of Gloucester, c. 1310. The foundry in that city has continued in active operation almost to the present day. Its mediseval works, however, were not equal to those of' East Anglia. York seems to have been the centre of the trade for the North of England. Early in the fifteenth century a very flourishing bell foundry was established at Norwich, and was for some generations in the hands of the Brazier family, men of great opulence in that wealthy city. Their bells differed from those of Lynn manufacture by the invariable use of black-lettering for the inscriptions, which were in elegant Latin, evidently the compilation of some well-educated ecclesiastic. Their capital letters and stops were sometimes very good, but the casting was not equal to that from Lynn. The Brazier bells are easily distinguished by four shields on their crowns, viz. a crown between three church bells, on an ermine or diapered ground; this was in the first instance the trade mark, and afterwards the adopted arms of the Brazier family. Contemporaneously with the Norwich foundry was another at Bury St. Edmund's, originating with the Abbey there, and continuing for a century or two after its dissolution. One Stephen Toune was their great founder. His bells are large, and marvellously grand in tone, but the casting is poor, and as works of art they are beneath notice; his bells are invariably dedicated to the Blessed Virgin or to St. Edmund, the patron saint of Bury. They may be recognized by a shield made out of the arms of the Abbey, viz. two arrows in saltire, enfiled by a ducal coronet.Beading also had a flourishing foundry in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which for the most part supplied the Home Counties.

Early casting, Mediaeval period

Bellfounding in Britian, like other scientific crafts, had monastic orgins and at this early period, and for centuries later, was carried out primarily by the monks. Large bells in England are mentioned by Bede as early as 670 A.D, by the seventh or eighth century the use of bells had become general in the services of the church. In the tenth century according although the first record of a complete peal, does not occur until nearly 200 years later, with the mention of Thurcytel, the first Abbot of Crowland, presenting his abbey with a bell named Guthlac, by Ingulphus, chronicler of Croyland Abbey. Afterwards his successor, Egelric the Elder (who died in 984) cast an additional six —two large, two of medium size and two small— to complete the peal of seven bells.

That “there was not such a harmonious peal in the whole of England”—a statement which implies that “rings of bells” were common at that time. The Abbots of Croyland were not the only ecclesiastics of that period whose names are handed down to us as the artisans founders of bells. St. Dunstan, “The Chief of Monks”, was an expert worker in metals and cast a bell which for several centuries after his death hung in Canterbury Cathedral; two bells cast under his direction were at Abingdon and here also were two more cast by St. Ethelwold, the founder of that monastery who made two bells which were put them in the belfry with two larger ones, which had been made by St. Dunstan. Methods of moulding by lost-wax casting were described by the thirteenth century Benedictine monk Walter de Odyngton of Evesham Abbey.

Bellfounding eventually became a regular trade which saw independant craftsmen begin to set up small, permanent foundaries which attracted a steady trade from all over the countryside. Medieval founders, did not confine themselves solely to bellmaking as their only source of livelihood, instead they often combined it with related trades, such as metal ware and utensil manufacturing and gunmaking—often indicated on a founder’s shields and trademarks. some founders were itinerant, travelling from place to place, and stopping where they found business; but the majority had settled works in large towns. Among other places London, Gloucester, Salisbury, Bury St Edmunds, Norwich, and Colchester have been the seats of eminent foundries. Early bells suffered from tonal discrepancies a result of their weight, alloy, uniform thickness and a profile where the height was disproportionate to the diameter. Advances in all aspects of bellfounding were made in the next century when a better understanding of the principles of bell design enabled the introduction of a superior shape. The angles at the crown and soundbow were gradually flattened out and the waist became shorter, flaring toward the mouth. Tuning methods were still uncertain and empirical, but sets of bells in diatomic sequence were installed at the more important parish churches and monesteries.

Church Bells during the whole Mediaeval period were, like other productions of that age, well worthy of study as works of art. A vast field of beautiful lettering and diapered ornamentation may yet be gleaned from our English belfries, particularly from those in the Eastern Counties, including Lincolnshire, where the art of casting was carried to the highest perfection. Such curiosities, however, must be sought, not in the easily accessible tower of the minster or town church, where peals have been increased for change-ringing, and funds for re-casting easily provided, but in the out-of-the-way village belfry, often accessible only at great risk by a rotten ladder, and containing one, two, or at most three bells, that have chimed for Divine Service from time immemorial.

After Reformation,Elizabethean

Reformation saw the wholesale destruction of Britain's religious houses with their bells forfiet to the crown. Bellfounding was at a low ebb and, with the export of bells prohibited, large quantities of metal not required for ordnance purposes flooded an already depressed market. Prices fell to any unrealistic levels and adversely affected the craft, which was now concentrated in the hands of secular bellfounders.

Late Elizabethean times brought a reversal of fortune and by the beginning of the seventeeth century the bellfounding industry was facing a revival and buisness was brisk. Neglected rings were refurbished with new fittings and many underwent recasting in order to obtain bells of an improved tone and shape. It was sometimes expedient for bellfounders to combine their resources and technical expertise when casting a large bourdon bell. In 1610, Henry Oldfield of Nottingham and her territorial rivial, Thomas Newcombe of Leicester teamed up to recast Great Tom of Lincoln Cathedral from a temporary furnace in the cathedral yard.

Great Tom of Lincoln Cathedral was cast in the Minster yard in 1610, and the great bell of Canterbury in the Cathedral yard in 1762. When the casting was complete, a tower was built over the casting pit, and the bell raised directly up into the tower. In some instances, such as in Kirkby Malzeard and Haddenham the bells were actually cast in the church. Before the nineteenth century, bellfounders frequently traveled from church to church to cast bells on site and it wasn't until the creation of railroads, that more centralized foundries were established. There are however examples of foundries producing bells prior to this, such as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.

In the seventeenth century, when bells were much multiplied for the purpose of change-ringing, bell foundries were started in nearly every large town in the kingdom, and so numerous were the founders that we might fill some pages even with their names. A favourite custom in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when roads were bad and conveyance difficult, was for bell-founders to itinerate. An order was given for the bells of some country town to be re-cast, and the founder would come there, set up a temporary furnace in some convenient spot, execute his order, with the addition of all the cracked bells in the neighbourhood, and this done, after a few months' sojourn, would travel on to some other central spot for similar operations. At the present day, with the exception of the small but very excellent foundry of the Messrs. Taylor, at Loughborough, all the bell-founding in the kingdom is centralized in London, and is in the hands of two firms,—the Messrs. Mears, of Whitechapel, who attained to very great celebrity in the early part of the present century, absorbing several provincial foundries, and casting a very large number of excellent peals throughout the country; and of late years, the Messrs. Warner, of Crippleg-ate, who have undertaken the business, and are each year sending forth an increasing number of highly musical bells.

While the bells of the present day satisfy the ear, and give more or less pleasure to the musician, it is much to be regretted that the pleasure of the eye is wholly forgotten in modern bellfounding; we talk indeed of beautiful castings, but this is now merely suggestive of the smoothness of the metal when it leaves the mould. No attempt whatever has been made fpr these many years to re-produce the beautiful forms and decorations so universal in the middle ages, and which are yet cultivated in European bell-founding. This is, be it remembered, no fault of our founders; so long as their orders are, so much metal at so much per cwt., and so many letters at id. or 6d. per letter, who can expect any improvement? Proper designs should be made by competent persons, and some encouragement given for their adoption, and bell-founders will not be behind in making use of them, and in again turning out bells which shall gratify the eye as well as the ear. After all, be it remembered, it is only a matter of first cost for designs and new moulds: these once made, liquid metal will run just as easily into them as into the plainest and ugliest letters and mouldings now in such common use. J. H. S.

Later on, an inside, instead of outside, clapper would be fitted which would be pulled to the side of the bell. This remains the usual custom of sounding the bells in Eastern Europe, those huge bells of Russia being nearly all chimed this way. This must be considered a very bad practice and has been responsible for many cracked bells. That this was realised [sic] in the sixteenth century is shown by the church warden’s accounts of St. Lawrence Reading, for 1584, in which an entry appears as follows:--“Whereas there was, through the sloughfulness of the sexton in time past a kind of tolling ye bell by ye clapper rope; ye was now forbidden and taken away.”

Later still a headstock, or yoke, was fitted across the head of the bell with gudgeons and the bell was hung to this and swung. When “rung up” as is now the practice, the bell swings through a little more than a complete circle and after each stroke rests in an inverted position, that is, mouth uppermost against a stay, until the rope is again pulled when it swings down, strikes the clapper and continues its swing until it is again in an inverted position on the other side.

Europe

Bellfounding is a process that in Europe dates to the 4th or 5th century. In early times, when a town produced a bell it was a momentous occasion in which the whole community would participate. Archaeological excavations of churchyards in Britain have revealed furnaces, which suggests that bells were often cast on site in pits dug in the building grounds.

Bell metal

Main article: Bell metal

Functional bells, with the intention of producing sound, are usually made by casting bell metal, an alloy of bronze, with approximately a 3:1 ratio of copper to tin, (75 percent copper to 25 percent tin).

The composition of bell metal can vary considerably however, with proportions ranging from three to five parts of copper to one of tin, and sometimes containing additions of small amounts of lead and zinc as well as other metals. A small quantity of other metals is sometimes detected by analysis, in fragments of bells that have been examined, such as zinc, antimony, bismuth, and even silver. But these metals are not considered as essential to the alloy. Bell-metal is of a grayish white colour, of a close grain, and so hard as to be scarcely touched with the file. It is also elastic and sonorous. Small house-bells are usually made of an alloy of 2 parts of copper with 1 of tin; but for larger bells a higher proportion of copper is needed. The larger the proportion of copper in the alloy, the deeper and graver the tone of the bells. Bismuth and lead are also often used to modify the tone, which each metal affects differently. The addition of antimony and bismuth is frequently made by the founder to give a more crystalline grain to the alloy. All these conditions are, however, prejudicial to the sonorousness of bells, and of very doubtful utility. The addition of tin, iron, or zinc causes them to give out a sharper tone; and where the quality of the tone is the chief object sought after, care is often taken to employ only commercially pure copper. The presence of lead, even in very small quantities, prejudicially affects the sonorousness of the alloy.

Bell-metal is of a yellowish-grey colour, hard, brittle, and sonorous, and exhibits a fine-grained fracture.Both tin and copper are relatively soft metals that will deform on stiking (though tin to a lesser extent than copper), alloying the two elements creates a metal which is both harder and more rigid but also one with more elasticity than the use of just one of the metals alone.This metal combination produces a tough, long-wearing material that is resistant to oxidation and subject only to an initial surface weathering. Verdigris forms a protective patina on the surface of the bell which coats it against further oxidation. Bell metal of these ratios has been used for more than 3,000 years, and is known for its resonance and "attractive sound". This allows for a better bell resonance and causes the bell to "vibrate like a spring when struck", a necessary quality as the clapper may strike the bell at speeds of up to 600 miles per hour. The forces holding the tin and copper together cause vibrations rather than cracks when the bell is struck which creates a resonant tone.

The hardest and strongest bronze contains large amounts of tin and little lead though an alloy with more than 25% tin will have a low melting point and become brittle and susceptible to cracking. This low melting point proved to be the nemesis of Russia's third attempt at casting the Tsar Bell from 1733–1735. The bell was never rung, and a huge slab cracked off (11.5 tons) during a fire in the Kremlin in 1737 before it could ever be raised from its casting pit. Burning timber fell into the casting pit and the decision was whether to let it burn and risk melting the bell, or to pour water on it and risk causing it cracking from cooling it too quickly. The latter risk was chosen and, as feared, because of the low melting point of the bronze and uneven cooling, the bell was damaged. The present bell is sometimes referred to as Kolokol III (Bell III), because it is the third recasting; remnants from the old bell were melted down and the metal re-used to cast the new bell. This practice was fairly commonplace, as the metal materials were very costly. Bell metal was considered so valuable that the first bronze coins for England were made in France out of melted down old bells.

Rapid refrigeration increases the sonorousness of all these alloys. Hence M. D'Arcet recommends that the "pieces" be heated to a cherry-red after they are cast, and after having been suddenly plunged into cold water, that they be submitted to well-regulated pressure by skillful hammering, until they assume their proper form; after which they are to be again heated and allowed to cool slowly in the air. This is the method adopted by the Chinese with their gongs, etc., a casing of sheet iron being employed by them to support and protect the pieces during the exposure to heat. In a general way, however, bells are formed and completed by simple casting. This is necessarily the case with all very large bells. Where the quality of their tones is the chief object sought after, the greatest care should be taken to use commercially pure copper. The presence of a very little lead or any similar metal greatly lessens the sonorousness of this alloy; while that of silver increases it. The specific gravity of a large bell is seldom uniform through its whole substance; nor can the specific gravity from any given portion of its constituent metals be exactly calculated owing to the many interfering circumstances. The nearer this uniformity is approached, or in other words, chemical combination is complete, the more durable and finer-toned will be the bell. In general, it is found necessary to take about one-tenth more metal than the weight of the intended bell, or bells, in order to allow for waste and scorification during the operations of fusing and casting.

References

Literature cited

• Johnston, Ron (1986). Bell-ringing: The English Art of Change-Ringing. Great Britain: Viking. pp. 40–41. ISBN 0-670-80176-3.
• Jennings, Trevor S. (1988). Bellfounding. Princes Risborough, England: Shire. ISBN 0-85263-911-2.
• Milham, Willis Isbister (1945). Time & timekeepers: including the history, construction, care, and accuracy of clocks and watches. The Macmillan Company. pp. 313–318.
• Starmer, W. W. (1901). "Bells and Bell Tones". Proceedings of the Musical Association, 28th Sess. 28. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical Association: 25–44. doi:10.1093/jrma/28.1.25. JSTOR 765451.