Gillett and Johnston is a clock and formerly bell manufacturing business in Croydon, England.

History

William Gillett started a clock making business on Union Road in Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1844. Charles Bland became a partner in 1854 and the company became known as Gillet and Bland. In 1877, Arthur Johnston joined the business as a partner adding a bell foundry. The company became known as Gillett, Bland & Co until Charles Bland's death in 1884 when the company name was changed to Gillett & Co. The name Gillet & Johnston seems to have been used from around 1877. Gillet's son Cyril perfected the tuning of bells which established Gillett & Johnston as one of the premier carillon

Carillon

A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...

 manufacturers in the world for many years. Many of the installations were in North America with the majority of installations taking place from 1922-1939.

In 1925 Rodman Wanamaker, patron of the Wanamaker Organ

Wanamaker Organ

The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest operational pipe organ in the world, located within a spacious 7-story court at Macy's Center City . The largest organ by some measures is the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ...

, commissioned a 16-ton tuned bell as a memorial to his father, the Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker

John Wanamaker

John Wanamaker was a United States merchant, religious leader, civic and political figure, considered by some to be the father of modern advertising and a "pioneer in marketing." Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Biography:He was born on July 11, 1838.He opened his first store in...

. When it was cast the next year, it was the world's largest tuned bell. The firm had successfully revived an old technique for tuning bells to themselves by shaving the bell's interior to bring the bell's natural harmonic series in tune with itself. This bell is located in the belfry of One South Broad Street, a building originally known as the Lincoln-Liberty Building (Wanamaker's new Men's Store) and later the PNB bank building (One South Broad). Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...

 was one of the many admirers of its tone. Originally the bell could be swung on special occasions; today a large hammer is used to strike the hours.

Perhaps the firm's most prestigious installation was for the Laura Spelman Rockefeller memorial carillon at the Riverside Church

Riverside Church

The Riverside Church in the City of New York is an interdenominational church in New York City, famous for its elaborate Neo-Gothic architecture—which includes the world's largest tuned carillon bell...

 in New York City. The carillon has the largest note span of any carillon, and the largest tuned bell in the world. The Low C "bourdon" of that carillon weighs 20 tons.

Cyril Johnston died in 1950. The bell foundry closed in 1957. The last installation was the carillon

Carillon

A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...

 installed in the Beaumont Tower at Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

 in 1957.

The foundry, located in Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

, England, was demolished in 1997. The Croydon site notes how from 1844 to 1950, over 14,000 tower clocks were made at the foundry.

Later Foundry history

This bell factory is now a church of the Emmanuel Inspirational Church of God - . It was purchased in 2003 after being vacant from the closure of the factory in 1997. Birds took up residence in this vacant building until the purchase of a section of this bell factory was completed.
Gillet and Johnston as Clockmakers continue to this day on other premises in Croydon.

External links

• Town of Croydon reference
• Gillett & Johnston
• Index to carillons and chimes
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4MQg8XeFi8Youtube visit to the John Wanamaker
  John Wanamaker
  John Wanamaker was a United States merchant, religious leader, civic and political figure, considered by some to be the father of modern advertising and a "pioneer in marketing." Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Biography:He was born on July 11, 1838.He opened his first store in...
  
  Memorial Founder's Bell striking noon]