The Degradation Of The Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, shuttered since 2017
November 2022
March 2023
July 2023
February 2024
These photos record the ongoing degradation, decay, disregard and disrespect of the world’s most famous bell foundry without any check from those authorities who have the power to do something.
Meanwhile, the London Bell Foundry is offering to acquire the former Whitechapel Bell Foundry at market value but the owners of the grade-II*-listed building refuse to engage, even though their hotel scheme is dead and they have been trying to sell it for several years unsuccessfully. The judgement of the Secretary of State’s Public Inquiry into the future of the foundry in 2020 obligates any owner to ensure foundry activity continues at this site.
The London Bell Foundry is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee set up with the purpose of operating a bell foundry in Whitechapel, combining traditional bell founding with the use of digital technology.
When I posted my most recent photograph on social media last week, it received an astonishing reaction – over eight hundred reposts, hundreds of comments, shared by over one hundred and twenty thousand people – indicative of the extent of public feeling on this issue.
In response to the hullabaloo, Historic England issued this statement –
“Whitechapel Bell Foundry played a vital role in the long history of bell-making in this country and is an important landmark for London. Whilst the historic buildings are no longer in use as a foundry, planning permission was granted for a scheme for its re-use which we accepted would be sensitive to its significance and provide a level of public access.
We share concerns about the vulnerable condition of the building and a worrying increase in graffiti. We are monitoring the situation, but responsibility for the site lies with the owner. Tower Hamlets Council has formal powers if it considers that urgent works are required to preserve the building. We would support the London Bell Foundry’s alternative vision for the site, should they take ownership and apply for the necessary planning consents.”
THE LONDON BELL FOUNDRY
The London Bell Foundry seeks to acquire the Grade II* listed buildings as a permanent home for the London Bell Foundry. They want to open it as a fully-working foundry, re-establishing the world’s most famous bell foundry that operated in Whitechapel for five hundred years from the reign of Elizabeth I to the reign of Elizabeth II.
Their mission is to reinvigorate the art and science of bell founding through a marriage of new and old technology, casting church bells, artists’ bell, ceremonial bells, and bells for all occasions.
They are working with Nigel Taylor, foreman at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry for forty years, alongside artists of international stature and a team of the foremost experts in the technology of casting.
They plan to maximise the educational potential through apprenticeships for local people and work with schools and colleges in East London.
Their first commission was the Covid Bell in 2021, designed by Grayson Perry in support of their mission, which debuted at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2022. The Covid Bell will tour NHS hospitals, enabling those have been bereaved to toll the bell in remembrance.
The London Bell Foundry has demonstrated a proven financial model that can ensure the tradition of bell founding continues in this country in perpetuity.
SUPPORTERS
“I fully support the proposal by the London Bell Foundry to establish a working foundry at the historic Whitechapel site. It is tragic that the bell foundry has been shuttered up since 2017. The presence of a rejuvenated modern bell foundry will once again assert Whitechapel as a place of creative innovation and restore the international reputation of the place where Big Ben and the Liberty Bell were made.”
Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets
“The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is one of the East End’s most treasured institutions, with a history stretching back to the 16th century. The foundry made Big Ben, America’s Liberty Bell and more locally the Bow Bells. So many people in the community are campaigning to save as much of the original building as possible, and to keep it as a working foundry. I am proud to support the Save the Whitechapel Bell Foundry campaign, and encourage everyone to join in. Together we can save this important feature of East End life.”
Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green & Bow
“The East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre welcomes the proposal from the London Bell Foundry to reestablish a working foundry in Whitechapel. This will provide apprenticeships and work experience in traditional and digital crafts for the local community.”
Sufia Alam, East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre
“The re-established Whitechapel Bell Foundry would add significantly to the creative offer in East London. As the V&A East establishes a substantial presence at Stratford and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and develops particular links with the adjacent boroughs, we would welcome the opportunity to promote the Whitechapel-based art and bell foundry. Combining traditional skills with innovative technology and the offer of apprenticeship and further training in this specialised field will enhance the interpretation of the V&A’s important collection of works of art in bronze. Continuing the centuries-old tradition of bell founding in London with its global outreach will enrich the cultural presence and attract national, regional and international interest.”
Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of Victoria & Albert Museum
“The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a crucial component of historic Whitechapel. That it has survived for so long on this site, and in such fascinating and evocative buildings, is nothing short of a miracle. Its survival as a working site is vital both for future generations and for Whitechapel.”
Heloise Palin, Spitalfields Historic Buildings Preservation Trust
Learn more at our THE LONDON BELL FOUNDRY website
You may also like to take a look at
We Make An Offer For The Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry Is For Sale
The Fate of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
So Long, Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Secretary of State steps in
A Letter to the Secretary of State
14 Whitechapel Bell Foundry Poems
Rory Stewart Supports Our Campaign
Hope for The Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Not only Whitechapel Bell Foundry is closed but the famous oldest purpose built synagogue of Whitechapel in Nelson street remains closed and its future grim indeed .
No kindness or care just its bleak future remains for both .
Finished Britain .
i rember getting off the trolley bus and walking past the open doors at the back of the foundry on my to synagogue in Henriques street
As i child i was fascinatid by the noise the general hub bub in and around the building, sometimes you would see an actual bell on a trolly outside.
What exactly are the owners waiting for? Are they simply not letting the Foundry buy it out of spite because their hotel plan was stymied or are they going the tried and tested route of allowing it to fall apart so they can say ‘Now will you let us build what we want to build’?
Angry start to my day – who are the owners who allow this degradation to
continue and what is their reasoning. Perhaps King Charles should join
the campaign – always a champion in such matters. Or Mr Trump – he’ll
get it sorted in one day !
Thank you for the update.
Unbelievable that the owners are still unwilling to sell to the London Bell Foundry!
Shame on Tower Hamlets Council’s insensitive lackadaisical approach to historically important cultural cultural preservation ..
Very sad to see. My sister has now passed her 80th birthday, but has been a Ringer all her adult roof, first learning to ring in the 1950s during her teens at St Luke’s Church Chelsea, and eventually being one of the ‘chosen’ Ringers at the Curfew Tower at Windsor Castle. The latter, lovely for me and my mum who always got her complimentary tickets to attend the annual Garter Ceremony at Windsor. Sister Kate is still ringing, but confesses she can no longer do a Full Peel ‘cos that really takes a lot of stamina. Many of her fellow Ringers are no longer with us, but have shared this post with her, for her to share with those she’s still in contact with – though pretty sure most of them will be very aware of this sad situation around the iconic Whitechapel Foundry.
“Finished Britain” Yes, I’m afraid it is. From my perspective (92 yrs old, E. End-born, non-religious of a Jewish family) I ascribe a large proportion of the blame to the Labour Party and, especially, to Tony and Cherie Blair who sold Britain down the drain for party political advantage.
So owners of the building are preventing this old historical relic from moving forward. Why can’t THC or historical societies apply pressure to the owners to arrive at some mutual agreement to allow this Bell Foundry to work/thrive again. What about our over flowing lottery funds surely they could assist with this process.
We went on a booked visit a few years ago … it was one of the most absorbing, fascinating and instructive visits I have made to a site of industrial history. I took many photos as we were taken around. Now, for some reason, they have all disappeared from my computer – no doubt accidentally deleted!
It would be great if this site could devote space to photos of the interior of the Foundry, including the upstairs rooms.
To see these pictures is particularly hard for me. I lived close by and chose the Bell Foundry when, as a student at Spital Square, we were required to choose an historic building to write about.
The office gave me plenty of information and from them I learnt of the Liberty Bell being cast there. To see it looking like this is heartbreaking – it’s going the same way as my old school building did – a long gone memory. What happened to the London I knew and loved?
Thank you for your vigilance. Is the local authority who has the formal powers to act to safeguard this world famous site, indifferent, spineless or both? Premises shuttered up for eight years? Total
disgrace. A unique asset and legacy which should be championed by any authority fortunate to have it with their boundaries.
This is terrible and so stupid.
What can we do to increase the pressure to get WBF into London Bell Foundry’s capable and loving hands? Is it possible to continue pressuring Tower Hamlets Council to do something? Higher up the food chain?
Many thanks, GA, for keeping this issue alive.
Terrible indictment to the Labour Party ?
Is it blue Labour ?
Adele and Bernie your words echo my heart .
Remember a synagogue near Sidney Street library ?
The church bells will peal for the end of an era .
Meanwhile Everton’s new ground has cost 800 million pounds to build and Tower Hamlets has a child poverty rate of nearly 60 per cent .
I am told one of the highest in the country .
We can see the office blocks and money making though without a telescope from Tower Hamlets .
Just saying…. this man is to blame.
Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, approved a plan to convert the Whitechapel Bell Foundry into a hotel.
Is this how he would continue behave if he ever became Leader of the Conservative Party?
Selling our cultural heritage for what can only be described as a ‘mess of pottage’.
“A mess of pottage” is an idiom that means something is worthless or of little value. It’s often used to describe when someone gives up something valuable for something worthless.
May there be a big protests
WITH LOUD BELLS.
It is a national disgrace that the Bell Foundry was allowed to close. Britain is NO longer the Britain we all knew. The East End is not the East End of my childhood. Most who live there now have no feeling for its history. Look at the condition of the monuments in Whitechapel. The last time I was there one monument was being used to secure a cover over a stall!
The idea of turning the building into a hotel was ridiculous. Smarten up people, SAVE WHAT LITTLE IS LEFT OF THE EAST END NOW ……….. NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! The Foundry should be saved and returned to produce bells.
I love the list of the ‘supporters’ – so, nu, where were these saints when the building closed in the first place?