Gillett and Johnston
Gillett and Johnston, formerly Gillett and Bland, were bellfounders in Croydon, Surrey from the late 19th century to the early 1950s. For the first half of the 20th century they were one of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anomalies in the tuning of Gillett & Johnston bells
Introduction This page has been updated to include the 25 old trebles at Bournville. These were replaced in 2015 but have been preserved in the school. This is one of a pair of papers about the...
View ArticleWeights, sizes and frequencies
Finding ways to relate the weight, size (generally mouth diameter) and nominal frequency of bells is useful, because it allows values to be estimated what data is not available. Some work on this was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Partial groups in the bell sound
This paper is one of the two key papers investigating the modes of vibration of bells, the other being Perrin, Charnley and DePont’s paper Normal Modes of the Modern English Church Bell. As this paper...
View ArticleEwald Riepe, Naylor-Vickers and Bochumer Verein
Steel bells cast by Naylor-Vickers in Sheffield in the 19th century commonly include “E Riepe’s Patent Cast Steel” as part of the inscription. Ewald Riepe was a German chemist, living in the UK. He...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Two van Aerschodt carillons
This paper has been updated with review comments, photographs and suggestions from Paul-Félix Vernimmen, and comments from Michael Loris, and further updated following discovery of the foundry book...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cyril Johnston’s tuning forks
In the period that Gillett & Johnston were active, between the late 1800s and the early 1950s, bells were tuned using tuning forks to check their partial frequencies. All three bellfounders in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A history of Gillett and Johnston in bell sounds
This article follows a similar pattern to the corresponding article on Taylors. That article gives the technical background, which is only summarised here. The assumption on which the investigation...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Simpson, Van Aerschodt, Lower Beeding and Kilburn
The nine original bells at Lower Beeding, Sussex were a chime cast by Séverin Van Aerschodt in 1885. Five bells were retuned and four recast by Gillett & Johnston in 1926. Canon Simpson in his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Manipulating bell sounds
This page explains the mathematical techniques and software algorithms I use to manipulate bell sounds for various purposes. The results in the next section, showing how the partial frequencies of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Long-waisted bells
This page was updated on 5/8/2024 with five more ancient bells on which the partials were identified from nodal patterns. This process has now been carried out on 12 long-waisted bells. For an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hemispherical bells
Hemispherical bells were produced by a number of bellfoundries (including Mears and Stainbank, Warners and Taylors) in the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. Used as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Modes of vibration of a tubular bell
To supplement the investigation of tubular bell acoustics, I carried out an experiment on a tubular bell at St Mary, Caterham, Surrey aimed at identifying the physical modes of vibration. I am...
View Articlethe van Aerschodts
The van Aerschodt family of Leuven, Belgium were one of the most significant founders of bells in the low countries in the latter part of the 19th century. They cast 25 carillons comprising almost 900...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The musical quality of van Aerschodt bells
At the time they were cast, the carillons and bells of the van Aerschodts were highly praised. They claimed to tune their bells, and there is evidence they had a tuning machine. Séverin in his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Van Aerschodts of Louvain
This article by Paul-Félix Vernimmen, grandson of Félix Van Aerschodt, the last bellfounder with the family name, was originally published in French in Le Folklore Brabaçon, 1983, no. 237-238, pp7-30....
View Article