[Bell Historians] Re: Levels of Bell Production

[David Sloman]

Some weeks ago there was correspondence on Levels of Bell Production. I have been recording bells, existing and recast, by founder for a number of years. The scope of these lists  is all bells in or cast in The British Isles slightly extended to cover information recorded in Dove on line( Dordrecht, Burnley(Australia) & a few others)

The information includes bells with known cast date, by unknown founder, existing or recast, rings, chimes, secular bells, hemispherical bells and steel bells( but excludes tubes and bar bells).

Information has been obtained from most County Books, Dove on line, NBR, from lists of a few major bell founders( courtesy of Chris Pickford), and many websites.

The lists are far from complete but after a lot of adding up I have some totals that might be of interest. I have listed details from the 17th century to date below by decades, ( The years in brackets record the highest and lowest output for each decade):-

Decade             total         highest & lowest

1600-9              1015          (1608-144, 1600-74)
1610-9              1425          (1616-169, 1614-114)
1620-9              1729         (1624-207, 1625 & 1628-148)
1630-9              1729         (1636-206, 1637-161)
1640-9               485          (1640-149, 1644-3)
1650-9              1016          (1656-171, 1651-63)
1660-9              1345          (1663-204, 1667-69)
1670-9              1163          (1675-170,1679-67)
1680-9              1264          (1686-154, 1689-54)
1690-9              1057          (1699-163, 1690-51)

In addition 432 bells ascribed to the 17th century but of unknown date

1700-9             1796          (1700-229, 1704-127)
1710-9             2066          (1717-259, 1715-143)
1720-9             2312          (1722-274, 1729-143)
1730-9             1800          (1737-212, 1735-140)
1740-9             1589          (1748-207, 1745-99)
1750-9             1622          (1754-212, 1757-127)
1760-9             1757          (1769-208, 1768-139)
1770-9             1925          (1775-227, 1778-141)
1780-9             1578          (1782-191, 1780-116)
1790-9             1349          (1790-173, 1795-99)

In addition 661 bells ascribed to the 18th century but of unknown date

1800-9             1327          (1808-176, 1801-86)
1810-9             1422          (1819-171, 1817-95)
1820-9             1761          (1825-257, 1822-112)
1830-9             1349          (1830-208, 1834-84)
1840-9             2354          (1844 & 1845-289, 1840-208)
1850-9             2445          (1859-275, 1855-210)
1860-9             3202          (1868-426,-1862-217)
1870-9             4225          (1877-510, 1871-366)
1880-9             4304          (1887-679, 1888-315)
1890-9             4182          (1897-684, 1894-317)

In addition 2060 bells ascribed to the 19th century but of unknown date

1900-9             4069          (1902-548, 1900-328)
1910-9             3236          (1911-618, 1918-46)
1920-9             5794          (1929-870, 1921-358)
1930-9             4326          (1930-597, 1939-260)
1940-9             1430          (1947-369, 1941-2)
1950-9             2641          (1951-405, 1955-171)
1960-9             1826          (1963-254, 1965-102)
1970-9             1356          (1978-219, 1976-81)
1980-9             1400          (1988-181, 1989-113)
1990-9             1481          (1998-224, 1994-100)

In addition 602 bells ascribed to the 20th century but of unknown date

2000-9            1467          (2003-233, 2009-73)

In addition 21 bells ascribed to the 21st century but of unknown date.

19th century onwards  totals include 850 steel bells and 550+ hemispherical bells, 

I am not able to help with any tonnage calculations but the list above contains very many small carillon bells of the 20th century and nearly 200 Bowditch & Higby bells.

As stressed at the beginning the list is far from complete with many more bells to be added.

David Sloman

 

  
           
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