BELLS OF LONG AGO

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21326, 29 October 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

BELLS OF LONG AGO

BACK TO LONDON AGAIN REPAIRS AFTER 150 YEARS After nearly 150 years the bells of the Normiin Abbey of Romsey have returned to this Whitechapel Bell Foundry for cleaning and retuning. .There, in 1790, they were first cast in the little old foundry in the Whitechapel Road which, since the days of £jueen Elizabeth, has made the bells for many famous churches of England. Big Ben himself was cast at Whitechapel in 1858, as also were the bells of Canterbury Cathedral, of Westminster Abbey, Southwark Cathedral, Lincoln, Winchester, Ripon, Durham and Wells cathedrals. Bow Bells, too, the traditional chimes of th» City of London, came originally from the Whitechapel Road. Here for centuries the science of bell foundjng has been perfected by the accumulation of knowledge in the blending of metals. Generations of craftsmen have handed down their experience and skill to their successors. Before the foundry was set up in Whitechapel the art of bell-founding was ira the hands of the monks, who, before the days of skilled professional craftsmen, applied themselves to the various arts necessary for the repair and beautifying of their churches and abbeys. In the 14th century the art of bell-founding was taken up by laymen, and between Whitechapel and Aldgate the London founders practised their craft. For a short period after the Reformation the art fell into abeyance, but in the reign of Queen Elizabeth itwas revived. Twelve years after her accession one, Robert Mot, started work m the old foundry in the Whitechapel Road, and the fifth and seventh bells in the present chimes of Westminster Abbey bear his mark. With Mot began the Whitechapel Foundry tradition which has been carried on unbroken until the present day.