History

John Taylor & Co. continues a line of bellfounding which has been unbroken since the middle of the 14th Century, when Johannes de Stafford was active only 10 miles from the site of the present foundry.

From 1784 the business was operated by members of the Taylor family, and in 1839 it moved to its present position in Loughborough, and is now proud to operate the largest bellfoundry in the world. 

The Foundry showing the campanile that houses the ring of 12 bells - the carillon tower is not visible in this photograph

Centuries of experience, together with up to the minute advances in technology, has put Taylors at the forefront in the design and manufacture of bells, their fittings and frameworks. We produce single bells, peals of bells, chimes and carillons, together with sets of musical handbells and other small bells for customers worldwide.

Taylor Five Tone Principle - Beautiful Harmonically Tuned Bells

Taylor's introduced their five tone principle of bell tuning in 1896. This produces the purity and sweetness of tone and allows the bell to sound with full and rich mellowness. This gives Taylor bells their special characteristic and sets them apart from all other cast bronze bells. The Bell Master and the Bell Tuner work on five principal harmonics, the hum, fundamental, tierce, quint and nominal but these in turn influence and affect many others. When the correct frequency for each of these harmonics has been achieved, the bell is in tune with itself. In a set of bells, each bell is tuned using the same standards applied to its own frequencies and thus each bell in the set is not only in tune with itself, but also with each bell in the set.

A bell case ready to have the cope constructed inside            A bell core constructed from brick and loam forms the inside shape

A finished Taylor bell hung for full circle change ringing