CONTEXT 189 : SEPTEMBER 2026 31 INFRASTRUCTURE THREATENED MATERIALS AND CRAFTS David Potter is director of John Taylor and Co, Loughborough. The foundry’s Grade II* Victorian buildings had suffered from a lack of maintenance over many decades. (Photo: Alex Wilkinson Media) the Heritage Lottery Fund and several trusts and charities, the Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust raised over £6 million to put the buildings in good order and develop the site. The future of any heritage industry depends on the passing on of skills learned and honed through generations. At Taylor’s we still employ around 30 people. The foundry staff are kept busy casting new bells and the many other iron components needed, such as bell frames, headstocks and clappers. After casting, all components are transferred to the engineering department for fettling (trimming and smoothing). The bells are then transferred to the tuning shop where each of the partial tones of the bell is tuned until perfect harmony is achieved. The woodcraft department contains a wealth of talent making hardwood bell wheels, repairing bell frames and making any other tower furniture, such as doors and cupboards. Installation work in towers falls to the team of bell hangers. Taylor bells last almost indefinitely. Once cast, barring accidents, they never go out of tune and will last century after century. From a business perspective the robustness of the product proves to be a major problem, limiting the possibility of repeat orders severely. And with church attendance declining in recent decades, orders for new bells have markedly decreased, and although the company works internationally with many different bell installations, the most significant part of our order book is still peals of English change-ringing bells. Change ringing is an English art form developed as an upper-class pastime in the 17th century, combining mathematical patterns and physical activity to produce music on diatonic sets of bells. This produces a unique sound that has become an embedded part of our heritage. Nowadays bell ringers ring bells both for their own pleasure and to call people to worship. Although the bells themselves normally require little attention from one decade to the next, the bell frames they hang in and the bell fittings they swing on do deteriorate with rusting, atmospheric pollution and weather if they are not protected. Major restorations and refurbishments of each peal is usually needed once every century or so, and such restorations form most of our business today. The restored and redeveloped bell foundry was formally opened in October 2024 once most of the planned work had been completed. Financial constraints left some aspects awaiting completion in the future. Improving access was an important part of the redevelopment, and with a new museum and archive successfully created, it is hoped to further develop the entire site as a visitor attraction. A key component behind the capital investment by the Heritage Lottery Fund was the realisation that without the presence of a bell foundry in the country, the future safety of our church bells would be endangered. With the investment came the implicit understanding that all manufacturing aspects of this heritage would be protected, whether profitable or not. This means that every possible component should be available and that all the craft skills involved should be passed on through the generations. At the same time, it was realised that the newly restored buildings needed to be kept in good order. The agreed business model provides for the Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust, which now owns the site, to rent the foundry exclusively to John Taylor and Co, with the rent paid being used to keep things in good order.Trading conditions in this field will always be challenging, but with a turnover of around £2 million a year, the business is holding its own for now.
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