[Bell Historians] Complete Taylor Peals

[Chris Pickford]

 From a very hasty check, Mirfield seems to have been the fourth 
complete Taylor ten. The others were Newark (1842), Bradford (1846), 
Dunham Massey (1854) - then Mirfield (1869). But the Grimthorpe twelve 
at Worcester (1869) also needs to be considered in this chronology. The 
next was Hampstead (1872), then Manchester Town Hall (1877) and 
Edinburgh Cathedral (1879).

Generally, Taylors were casting some very interesting-sounding bells in 
the 1840s, 50s and 60s - including marvels like Kingweston and the tenor 
at Bridgwater - but were knocked off course (as some see it - with the 
benefit of hindsight) by the influence of Lord G. I'd suggest that any 
assessment of Mirfield needs to take account of the change brought about 
in casting scale, thickness and tonal quality arising from Grimthorpe's 
dogmas. I can't comment on Mirfield as I haven't heard them, but 
date-wise they sit in a developmental period in the Taylor /oeuvre/. 
Certainly Taylor bells of the 1870s have characteristics that are 
markedly different from the work of up to, say, 1865.

A hasty and subjective commentary, I accept!

CJP



           
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