St Augustine's Tower

The original church of St Augustine that stood on this site from 1275 was demolished in 1798 to make way for the bigger church of St St John. All that remains is the bell tower.
The plan was to move the bells to the new tower that was built in 1814, however the tower wasn't strong enough and had to be strengthened.
By 1854 when the work was completed the community wanted to keep the historical tower as a reminder of Hackney's medieval past. The bells and tower were saved and are now managed by the Hackney Historic Buildings Trust.

The tower and original church were dedicated to St Augustine the patron saint of the Knights Templar who owned much of Hackney's land until the 17th century. The church changed its dedication to St John in 1660 after the Knights of St John took over from the Templars.

Bell Frames

Another image from my recent visit to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The frames needed for bells that will hang in a bell tower somewhere. The double spoke in the middle is to enable the frame to come apart to get up the narrow staircase of the majority of bell towers. The rope will wind around the outside then be bound around the rectangle piece in the middle so it is perfectly balance and controllable for the bell ringer.

The Making of Bells

Those of you who did my monopoly tour last year may recall how excited I was to find the Whitechapel Bell Foundry (see here) and that I applied for a visit. You apply each September for tours the following year.
Yesterday I went on my tour. Wow where to begin.
Bells are still made in much the same fashion as in medieval times. Who would have thought goats hair and horse manure played an important role! Not me that's for sure. How are bells rung? Well the English stand alone in ringing them the hardest way possible, by pulling a rope. To have any control over this method an elaborate hanging system is required. This has to be assemble a bit like lego as bells tend to hang in very small places generally up an extremely narrow winding staircase. I learned that copper and tin two very soft metals produce a hard metal and the more tin you put in the harder the metal. Put too much in and the bell will shatter like glass. A revelation to me.
Then there are the hand bells, a large part of the business now. Well bells last a good 150 years so you don't pop out and buy one every day. There are only seven bell foundries in the world. Whitechapel Bell Foundry is the oldest and has always been family owned. Truly this visit is worth the effort.

Monopoly - Whitechapel

Whitechapel on the monopoly board is brown. Value £60.

Whitechapel has so many places of interest it was difficult to decide what to show you. That was until I discovered the bell foundry. What an interesting place. Casting bronze bells since 1570. The bells from this foundry are all over the world. Big Ben in London, Liberty bell in America, New Zealand, and Iceland all have bells from here.
The largest bell weighing three tons is Great Peter at Gloucester. It's not all about large bells. They also make small hand rung bells.
Above is a photo taken in the workshop where the supports for the bells are made. The happiest place to work they told me. Once here we never want to leave.
I'm keen to see the foundry itself, where the bells are cast using the same methods since medieval times. Only a few are permitted each year as it is a fully working foundry, not a museum. My name is down to hopefully be selected next year!