[Bell Historians] Great Bells on Malta

[David Cawley]

Apparently the chains suffer from exposure to the extremes of Mediterranean 
sea air .....hence the present silence. The Seige Bell cast by John Taylor 
Bellfounders Ltd in 1992 is 8' 8" diameter and weighed 235-2-24 as cast, 
after tuning the despatched weight is 214-2-3; Nominal Frequency 314, 
musical note Eb.

It is the 2nd heaviest of these four 8' 8" bells from Loughborough, Great 
Peter of York (1927) being slightly heavier; Washington Carillon Bass (1962) 
and Ann Arbor, Michigan Bass (1935) being a little lighter. Interestingly, 
The Seige Bell is the sharpest of the four, Washington next (310.8), Ann 
Arbor (308) then Great Peter is 304.5. Andrew Higson gave me these and other 
details back in 1993 when I was preparing a RW article on Great George of 
Bristol, at that time being rehung by Taylors.

No, the St Elena bell is large but by no means the largest in the world 
hanging in a church tower - I think that the late Alan Blair would have soon 
put her right on that one. There are still some mighty great bells hanging 
in Russian church towers, and I gather that the Russian founders are hard at 
work producing more of them. As to swinging bells, I think that the St 
Peter's Bell in Cologne (Koln) takes the palm - it is in fact the largest of 
a diatonic nine of various dates, inbcluding two huge medieval ones, 
Preciosa and Speciosa

DLC 



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