LONDON – The History of Great Paul, the bell of the Church of St. Paul was shaken because a service celebrate Queen Elizabeth IICelebrating the Platinum Jubilee on Friday, is one of the heavy lifting and monumental.
It is also a story involving a giant furnace, more than 16 and a half tons of metal and now muscle and sweat.
The largest bell ever minted in the British Isles and the largest still being rung there, the Great Paul was made in England in the 19th century, when the trend for grandiose, ambitious objects was reflected. reflected in the high demand for large, deep-toned bells.
Trevor S. Jennings, an author specializing in bells, wrote in his book The Great Paul Story. ”
The bell, made of bronze, is designed to resemble the bells of major churches in mainland Europe. But the foundry that created it – run by John Taylor in Loughborough, a town north of London – made it clear that to achieve the note the church was using, the bell needed to weigh at least 15 tonnes.
So the foundry built a new, larger furnace to melt copper, tin, and old bells from other British churches, and it took workers four days to load more than 40,000 pounds of metal into the furnace.
When the bell was completed, Mr. Taylor invited locals and workers to a celebratory luncheon, and hundreds of visitors from miles away came to see the bell.
But the work is not over yet. To transport the giant bell to London, about 140 miles away, options like trains and boats were turned down, because the logistics were too complicated, as were elephants – because they weren’t really plentiful. in the UK.
The bell was eventually loaded onto a steam-powered cart. It took 11 days to reach London, in a large convoy attended by reporters but also vandals trying to carve their initials onto the bell with chalk and chisels. In May 1882, the Great Paul reached the southwest spire of the church, where it still hangs.
Its pristineness was tested in 2012 by the British Olympic bell, which weighs about 23 tons but was cast in the Netherlands and is now on silent display, in London’s Olympic Park.
The Great Paul also remained mostly silent for more than four decades after its electronic motor failed a few years after it was installed in the 1970s. After the bell was restored last year, its bellmen the church began to sound it manually so that its powerful low bells could reverberate throughout its central London neighbourhood.
Simon Read, 26, a member of the St. Paul, who will ring the Great Paul bell before Friday’s ceremony, celebrating the queen’s 70th anniversary as monarch. And it required tethering with their entire body to swing the 16-ton bell.
It’s a combination of music and exercise, says Read. “I’m going to do biceps,” he says.
Mr. Read, who has rung the bell hundreds of times over the past 12 years, said Friday was the most important performance of his career. Members of his congregation have also helped Britain celebrate notable events: One was 90, ringing church bells at Winston Churchill’s funeral in 1965, and another at his wedding. Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1981.
On Friday, bells in churches across England rang as the Great Paul rang before the service. St Paul’s bells will then also ring for four hours after the event, including Bible readings, national anthems, prayers and hymns to honor the queen for her faith and service.
Mr Read said he planned to get a good night’s sleep and drink some Gatorade before climbing the narrow stairs to the dark, dusty room above the church clock to phone Queen Paul the great.
“I feel very proud and special to be able to ring the biggest bell in the country,” Mr. Read said, adding, “I hope she notices that the bells are ringing.”
