The 1869 Cathedral Bells
Bell
1
2
3
4
4b
5
6
6b
7
8
8b
9
10
11
12
Founder and date
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1875
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1875
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1869
John Taylor & Co, 1869
Diameter
28 7/8”
30”
31”
33”
34 1/2”
35 3/4”
36 7/8”
37 1/2”
38 3/4”
42 1/2”
44 5/8”
47 7/8”
50 5/8”
56 5/8”
63 5/8”
Weight
1869/75
6-3-19
7-0-22
7-2-10
8-3-0
9-2-24
10-1-21
11-0-24
11-1-6
12-0-0
15-2-11
18-0-14
21-2-11
26-1-8
34-2-12
50-0-0
Weight
1928
6-3-13
7-0-17
7-2-4
8-2-21
9-2-16
10-1-12
11-0-13
11-0-24
11-3-19
15-1-19
17-3-22
21-2-6
26-0-24
34-1-5
50-0-4
The Grimthorpe bells for the Cathedral were cast in 1868-9 – the hour bell or bourdon on 28 August 1868 and the ring of twelve and the first semitone (the flat 4th) between April and September 1869. The bells were hung in the tower in the closing weeks of the year, but they were not rung or “opened” until some time later in 1870. The two additional semitones (the flat 6th and flat 8th) were cast on 20 Jan 1875.
The complete tuning figures for these bells were taken in 1928 prior to the recasting. The bells were in the key of D flat, the nominal of the tenor being 549 hz or cps (D flat minus 16.84). The gothic lettering was in two different sizes, a smaller and simpler set being used on the seven smaller bells of 1869 (i.e. bells 1 to 6 and the flat fourth). The weights given here are those as originally recorded in 1869 (and 1875 for the two additional semitones) and the net weights (after deducting an allowance for waste) as received back at the foundry in 1928.
The tenor was rehung on a new cast iron headstock by John Taylor & Co in September 1894. The original headstock – a massive wooden stock with continuous or “hoop” gudgeons – remained in the tower until the 1980s when it was lowered to the ground for display in the cloisters. The 1894 headstock was reused when the bells were rehung in 1928 and it remains in use on the present tenor.