PMP2000 > Places > Charnwood History

INDUSTRIES

IRON FOUNDING:
CHARNWOOD has a connection with iron founding which goes back centuries but for most of them it was as a supplier of wood rather than founding itself. Wood in the form of charcoal was essential for fuelling foundries and CHARNWOOD FOREST was an ideal source. The earliest record of a wood sale for this purpose was in 1673 when Birmingham ironmaster HUMPHREY JENNENS bought a large quantity of ash and oak for one of his forges in Whitwick. Actual foundries were made a much more practical proposition for LOUGHBOROUGH itself when the LEICESTER and LOUGHBOROUGH NAVIGATIONS opened in the late eighteenth century.

The best known was undoubtedly John Jones' BRITANNIA FOUNDRY which produced castings, some of which can still be seen in the street furniture of the town. Jones was a native of Chester and came to LOUGHBOROUGH in the 19th century to become an engineer at the now demolished PAGET'S MILL in MILL STREET (now MARKET STREET). Later he went into partnership with a man called FRISBY who owned a small foundry in MEADOW LANE. This was eventually to become JOHN JONES AND SON at the BRITANNIA FOUNDRY. The Coalville firm of WOOTON BROTHERS also started life in LOUGHBOROUGH and the STAR FOUNDRY was working as recently as the mid 1960s.

BELLS:
TAYLORS' links with the county go back to the 14th century, when John de Stafford, a bell founder, was made mayor of Leicester. The TAYLOR family first cast bells in LOUGHBOROUGH in 1839, when JOHN TAYLOR came here to recast the bells of the Parish Church. His father had cast bells in Oxford since 1821 and this commission led to a branch of the firm being opened in the town. LOUGHBOROUGH's central position was ideal and close to all the raw materials needed for bell casting and the whole firm was later transferred here.

The family did not only make bells but some members also rang them. A plaque in the LOUGHBOROUGH parish church belfry commemorates a peal of grand sire triples rung there in 1842 with JOHN WILLIAM TAYLOR on 3rd bell.

National recognition came when TAYLORS took the only prize for bell making at the GREAT EXHIBITION of 1851. Probably spurred on by this success, the firm moved in 1858 to a newly built foundry between FREEHOLD STREET and CHAPMAN STREET in LOUGHBOROUGH. They are still there, although the premises have been greatly altered and enlarged since then.

The firm was also responsible for casting the heaviest bell in Britain - "GREAT PAUL" - for St Paul's Cathedral in 1881. This weighed (and still weighs!) 17,002 kilograms (37,483 lb) and it's journey from LOUGHBOROUGH to London - a huge feat in itself - was accompanied by great ceremony. What is frequently forgotten is that GREAT PAUL was just one of a peal of twelve bells cast for the cathedral.

It was in 1896 that TAYLORS introduced the "True Harmonic" method of tuning bells, after decades of research by family members. Today, this is the principle on which all cast bells are now tuned throughout the world.

In 1923, it was naturally TAYLORS who were chosen to cast the bells for the LOUGHBOROUGH CARILLON WAR MEMORIAL.

Today, TAYLORS BELL FOUNDRY is internationally celebrated as the finest bell manufacturer in the world. LOUGHBOROUGH bells have been exported as far afield as the USA, TONGA, NEW ZEALAND and CHINA. Their foundry is not only a thriving business but also a major tourist attraction with thousands of visitors flocking to their unique on-site museum every year.