Taylor's Bell Foundry, Loughborough

There has, rightly, been a lot of attention paid to the campaign to save the Whitechapel Bell Foundry,

But there is another working bell foundry in England and it is here in Leicestershire. Wikipedia tells its story:

John Taylor & Co, commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is in Loughborough, in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. The business originated in the 14th century and became Taylor's after the Taylor family took over in 1784. 

In 2009 Taylors went bankrupt but was bought out of administration by a consortium called UK Bellfoundries Ltd which successfully re-financed and re-established the business. Since then the company has re-established its presence both in the UK and in the North American Carillon and other export markets. 

The company manufactures bells for use in clock towers, rings of bells for change ringing, chimes, and carillons ...

The Foundry has a museum of bells and bellfounding which is the only one of its kind in the UK. The restoration of the foundry buildings began with the re-opening in 2012 of the foundry's own Campanile which contains the most-pealed bells in the World. It is one of the few Victorian purpose-built manufacturing sites still being used for its original purpose and therefore of considerable heritage merit.

I went to Loughborough today to photograph the site. The museum is currently closed, but the company website says that tours can still be arranged.

And the council flats that surround it can hear the quarters being chimed.