[Bell Historians] Council for the Conservation of Bellfoundries (CCB)

[Richard Offen]

> I don't have concrete evidence of this, but I would think that the 
practice of casting near the church is likely to have endured longer 
in hilly areas where moving bells would be very difficult. Even in 
1922, Taylor's rehung the tenor at the remote dales village of 
Arncliffe in situ, fitting it with cast iron headstock. This is 
contrary to their usual practice of taking bells to Loughborough for 
refitting, and I would assume this is because transporting the bell 
(which weighs about 15 cwt) would have been difficult even then.
> 
> David

I would think that rehanging a bell in situ, rather than taking it to 
the foundry, has more to do with the lack of, or inaccessibility of, 
trapways in the tower rather than problems of transport outside the 
tower. This sort of work still goes on to this day where getting a 
bell out would involve dismantling a whole ring, or cutting trapways 
in floors, etc.

R