page_title: Bellfounding
section_title: Materials
hierarchical_section_title: Bellfounding / Materials
caption_attribution_description: English: Tsar Bell
context_page_description: Bellfounding is the casting and tuning of large bronze bells in a foundry for use in such as churches, clock towers and public buildings, either to signify the time or an event, or as a musical carillon or chime. Large bells are made by casting bell metal in moulds designed for their intended musical pitches. Further fine tuning is then performed using a lathe to shave metal from the bell to produce a distinctive bell tone by sounding the correct musical harmonics.
  Bellfounding in East Asia dates from about 2000 BC and in Europe from the 4th or 5th century CE. In Britain, archaeological excavations have revealed traces of furnaces, showing that bells were often cast on site in pits in a church or its grounds. Centralised foundries became common when railways allowed easy transportation of bells, leading to the dominance of such as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and John Taylor & Co of Loughborough.
  Elsewhere in the world a number of foundries are still active, some using traditional methods, and some using the latest foundry techniques. Modern foundries produce harmonically tuned bells using principles established in the late 19th century; some of these are also highly decorative.
caption: The Tsar Bell showing crack caused by uneven cooling during fire-fighting.
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