Page 58 - Phonebox Magazine April 2012

The Mystery of the Giant Olympic Bell
At the moment we do not know the weight of the bell that is to be cast or indeed has been cast already. We know who is responsible for casting the bell but we do not know where it is being cast. They did cast Big Ben in the Whitechapel foundry itself but the new bell will require nearly twice as much liquid bell metal to be poured in one pour and it will probably need to stand for over a month to solidify and cool; Big Ben required 20 days. There is conjecture that the bell has been cast in Sheffield or a large foundry elsewhere in the UK which is geared up to handling significant castings and large single pours. There is then the question of tuning the bell once it is out of the mould. This is normally performed with the bell upside down using a vertical lathe and removing metal from various levels within the bell; the bell is tuned harmonically using computer aids. No bell of this size has ever been tuned in this way before and a lathe of considerable size and capacity is going to be required; woe betides the tuner who gets this one wrong!
On Friday 27th January 2012 reports began to circulate in the national media that a gigantic bell would form the centre-piece for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics on the 27th July. As Reuters news agency put it: “Danny Boyle, the man overseeing the opening ceremony..... revealed on Friday that it will be called ‘Isles of Wonder’ and involve a big bell.”
Some news reports, including one in the Daily Telegraph, have described the Olympic bell as “the largest in Europe” and mention a weight. The reporter said “it’s much bigger than Big Ben and the hope is that it will remain in the Park after the Games.” Which all leaves a little bit of mystery and a number of unanswered questions.
Danny Boyle also revealed that the sound of the largest harmonically tuned bell in Europe will kick off proceedings. The bell is being produced by the Whitechapel Bell foundry and will measure two metres tall by three metres wide, weighing 23 tonnes. It will be inscribed with the words “Be not afeard the isle is full of noises” from The Tempest, as well as “London 2012.” Due to contractual obligations to its customers, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry has not been able to comment but Kathryn Hughes has said “Of course we are all very excited about it.” Other reports have suggested an even heavier weight of 27 tonnes.
Assuming a weight of between 23 and 27 tonnes how will this bell compare with others in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe?
In Great Britain the largest bell is Great Paul, (photographright) the hour bell at St Pauls Cathedral in London. Cast by Taylors of Loughborough in 1881 it weighs in at 17,002 kgs (37,483 lbs / 16.75 Tons) with a diameter of 9 feet 6 inches. The second heaviest is Big Ben. Cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1856 it weighs 13,760 kgs (30,272 lbs) with a diameter of 2.9 metres and a height of 2.2 metres.
In Europe the heaviest swinging bell is a bell called “Peter” in Cologne Cathedral weighing 23,500 kgs (51,810 lbs). The second heaviest is a bell named “Maria Dolens” in Rovereto, Italy weighing 22,700 kgs. Thirdly is a bell named “Pummerin” in Vienna Cathedral weighing in at 20,130 kgs (44,380 lbs) with a diameter of 3.14 metres and a height of 2.94 metres.
There are a lot of unanswered questions but we do know that it will be the largest bell ever cast by a UK bell founder, it will be the largest bell cast in the UK in over 130 years and it will probably be the largest swinging, harmonically tuned bell in Europe; but when will the silence and secrecy be over. It is going
Natural Nails
to be difficult to keep such an object hidden until the 27th July so it could be revealed to us all anytime soon; I personally can not wait to see and hear such an immense bell.
Watch this space !! David Phillipson
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58 Phonebox Magazine