John Taylor & Co

Inside the belfry of St Stephen's Church, Bristol, England. In 1970 Taylor's cast five of the twelve bells and a new frame in which they re-hung all twelve.

The present company is part of a line of bellfounders dating back to Johannes de Stafford in the 14th century, who was also a mayor of Leicester.[3] The Taylor family became involved in 1784 with Robert Taylor (1759–1830), and a foundry was established in Loughborough in 1839 by his son John Taylor (1797–1858), moving to the current site in 1859. The Taylors also had foundries in Oxford and St Neots between 1786 and 1854.[4] During much of the later 19th century the foundry was under the management of John William Taylor (1827–1906). Taylor's were the first bellfounder to adopt "true-harmonic" tuning in the late 19th century.[5] The foundry is based in buildings on Freehold Street which are Grade II* listed.[6][7]

In 1963, Paul Taylor, last of the Taylor family in the business, appeared on the American TV panel show What's My Line?, challenging the panel with his occupation as a bell maker.[8]

On 18 September 2009 the company went into administration.[9][10] Mazars, who had previously been acting as advisors to the company during attempts to secure extra funding, were appointed administrators.[11] On 2 October 2009 it was reported that the administrators were "optimistic about its future."[12] On 15 October 2009, in a statement released by UK Bellfounders Ltd., a consortium of ringers, members of the bell industry and other investors, it was stated that the foundry would reopen on 19 October, reverting to the previous name of John Taylor & Co.[13][14] Paul Taylor's widow, Mrs Merle Taylor, was Hon. President of the new company until her death. The current board since 2015 comprises Andrew W R Wilby (chairman and CEO), Laith R Reynolds, David E Potter, Michael J Semken, Simon E Adams, D Paul Mason and Andrew B Mills.

Before September 2009 the foundry was employing 26 people, and since then the new company employs 31 including 4 apprentices.

In 2016 the Directors of UK Bellfoundries Ltd founded the Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust and transferred ownership of the buildings, equipment, intellectual property and the Museum to that body in perpetuity to safeguard it for the future. The Trust received emergency grants to restore several parts of the building from Historic England as it was listed as a Grade II* building at risk. Further restoration was planned.

In 2018 the company established a subsidiary called John Taylor International, based in Australia, to serve the southern hemisphere markets.[15]

The National Twelve Bell Contest is competed for annually by the leading teams in England for "The Taylor Trophy".

Inscription on the Bourdon bell of the Baird Carillon at the University of Michigan

In 1881 Taylor's cast at Loughborough "Great Paul", which is the largest British cast bell in Britain, for St Paul's Cathedral London, weighing 17,002 kilograms (37,483 lb) or more than 17 metric tons. Rock band AC/DC used a 2000-pound cast bronze bell for the song, "Hells Bells", which was originally used on the Back in Black Tour in 1980. Many churches across the world have used bells cast at Taylor's Bell Foundry, including:

• Baird Carillon, a 55 bell carillon at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
• Carlisle Cathedral, 13 bells
• "Big Joe" of Highmoor, Wigton [16]
• Edith Adamson Memorial Carillon, 25 bell carillon, Newcastle Civic Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Gozo Cathedral, 11 Bells
• Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews, 27 bell carillon 1926 onwards
• Lady St. Mary church, Wareham.[17]
• Liverpool Cathedral bourdon bell "Great George", at 14,900 kg or more than 14 long tons 13 cwt, it is the second largest bell in Britain.[18]
• Loughborough Carillon, (War Memorial) 47 bell carillon
• Manchester Town Hall, 23 bell carillon
• National Carillon, Canberra, 57 bell carillon
• Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, England's first post-reformation RC monastery, 2 bells, cast in 1936
• Singing Tower Carillon, at Lake Wales, Florida. A 60 bell carillon
• Yale Memorial Carillon, 54 bell carillon
• Kibbey Carillon, 53 bell carillon (1963), Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., USA
• Berkeley Carillon, Sather Tower original (1917) 12 bell chime by Taylor (later expanded to carillon), University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
• WWII Memorial Carillon, 53 bell carillon, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
• Stanton Memorial Carillon, 50 bell carillon (originally a 10 bell chime in 1899, expanded in 1920, 1954, 1967), Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA
• Luray Singing Tower, 47 bell carillon (1937), Luray, Virginia, USA
• Duke Chapel carillon, 50 bell carillon (1932), Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
• St. Elisabeth's Church, Reddish
• St. Ethelred's church Horley, Oxfordshire, 2 bells cast in 2013
• St. James's Church, Kingston (Isle of Purbeck), United Kingdom
• St. James' Church, Sydney
• St. Mary's Church, Southampton[19]
• St. Nicolas' Church, North Stoneham, Hampshire[20]
• Siege Bell, Siege Bell War Memorial, Valletta, Malta. Designed by Michael Sandle and erected in 1992.
• Wellesley College Carillon, 32 bell carillon, (1931, last enlarged in 1990), Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA
• Wells Cathedral, 2 bells cast in 1877
• GPO, Sydney, Australia, Clock Tower Bells
• Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Killinghall, bell for chiming clock
• Downside Abbey, Great Bede, The bell for Downside Abbey and School
• The Customs House (No. 13, The Bund), cast in 1927, Shanghai, China
• Our Lady of Good Voyage Church, 31 bell carillon, Gloucester, Massachusetts[21]

• Milsom, Michael J. (2018) [2017]. Bells & Bellfounding: A History, Church Bells, Carillons, John Taylor & Co., Bellfounders. Loughborough. ISBN 978-1547239153.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Taylor & Co.

• Official website
• Panorama of the foundry – BBC Leicester
• History of the Taylor family
• Index of carillons, chimes and great bells produced by the Taylor foundry