Richard Phelps (bell-founder)
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Avebury
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles which is located around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, south west England. Unique amongst megalithic monuments, Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe, and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, 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...
. Phelps was a bell-founder, or a maker of bells, primarily for churches. He was master of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...
in London from 1701 to 1738, and is best known for his large bell, Great Tom, in the steeple of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
in London, England. The foundry, in operation since at least 1570, is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain.
Whitechapel foundry owner
St Michael, Cornhill
St Michael, Cornhill is a medieval parish church in the City of London with pre-Norman Conquest parochial foundation. The medieval structure was lost in the Great Fire of London and the current church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren between 1670-1677....
; St Magnus-the-Martyr
St Magnus-the-Martyr
St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge is a Church of England church and parish in the City of London, located in Lower Thames Street near The Monument and the modern London Bridge. It is a part of the Diocese of London and under the pastoral care of the Bishop of London. By arrangement with the...
, All Hallows, Lombard Street; St Andrew, Holborn
St Andrew, Holborn
St Andrew, Holborn is a Church of England church on the northwestern edge of the City of London, on Holborn within the Ward of Farringdon Without.-Roman and medieval:Roman pottery was found on the site during 2001/02 excavations in the crypt...
, and St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
. It was customary for bell-founders to add an inscription to their bells. Phelps' inscriptions were typically much longer than his predecessors. For example, the following inscription is found on the tenth bell of St Michael, Cornhill:
The Whitechapel foundry was very prosperous under the ownership of Richard Phelps. Lukis cites the inscription on the tenor bell at Avebury, Wilts, Richard Phelps, London, Nat. par. hujus 1719 as indicating Phelps was born there.
Bells for St Paul's Cathedral
Phelps' most famous bell is Great Tom at St Paul's Cathedral in London, England. The history of this bell began long before Phelps' involvement with it. In 1698, King William IIIWilliam III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
gave the bells from St Stephen's Chapel to the newly rebuilt St Paul's. The largest of these bells was originally called Edward I or Edward of Westminster, and was later known as Great Tom of Westminster. The name "Great Tom" is thought to be a corruption of grand ton, referencing its deep, sonorous tone. It then weighed 82 long hundredweights (4,165.8 kg).
In 1699, while the bell was being moved to St Paul's, it fell off its carriage and was cracked. Bell Yard at Temple Bar
Temple Bar
Temple Bar may refer to:* The Temple Bar, a spot in London* Temple Bar, Dublin, a cultural quarter in Dublin city* Temple Bar, Ceredigion, a village in Wales* Temple Bar Magazine, British literary magazine published 1860 to 1906...
received its name from this event. The bell remained in a shed in the yard of St Paul's Cathedral until 1708 when it was recast by Philip Wightman at a weight of approximately 73 long hundredweights (3,708.6 kg) and hung in the south west tower. The recasting was a failure.
In 1709, Richard Phelps cast a new bell, which was delivered to the Cathedral before the old one was taken away, but the new bell also failed. Nine years later Phelps was given the job of recasting it once again. The present bell is described by Phelp's successors Charles and George Mears as being 6 in 9 in (2.06 m) in diameter, 6 foot , and with thickness at sound bow 5.25 inches (13.3 cm), and weighing 76 long hundredweights (3,861 kg). The larger part of the metal of which it is made came from Great Tom of Westminster. It bears the inscription:
The bell, which hangs in the South West Tower of the cathedral is "only used for tolling the hour, and for tolling at the death and funeral of a member of the royal family, the Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
, the Dean of the Cathedral, or the Lord Mayor
Lord Mayor
The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...
". An exception was made for the death of American President James Garfield
James Garfield
James Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...
.
In 1717, Richard Phelps cast two more bells that were added as "quarter jacks". Still in use today, the first weighs 13 long hundredweights (660.4 kg), is 41 inches (104.1 cm) in diameter and is tuned to A flat; the second weighs 35 long hundredweights (1,778.1 kg) and is 58 inches (147.3 cm) in diameter and is tuned to E flat.
Other churches
In 1726, Richard Phelps cast a ring of 10 bells for St Dionis BackchurchSt Dionis Backchurch
St Dionis Backchurch was a parish church in the Langbourn ward of the City of London.-History:The church of St Dionis was dedicated to Dionysus the Areopagite, a follower of St Paul, said to have converted the French to Christianity. He became the patron saint of France, where he is known as St Denis...
. "The new ring of 10 bells was purchased for £479.8s from Richard Phelps. They were hung in a new anti-clockwise oak frame. A chiming machine was installed to play on all 10 bells at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock every day. The clock struck quarters on the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th bells with the hour on the tenor, repeated on the saints bell."
The bells at St Magnus-the-Martyr
St Magnus-the-Martyr
St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge is a Church of England church and parish in the City of London, located in Lower Thames Street near The Monument and the modern London Bridge. It is a part of the Diocese of London and under the pastoral care of the Bishop of London. By arrangement with the...
were formed a ring of ten with a tenor of 21 long hundredweights (1,066.8 kg). Succeeding a ring of six, the back eight were cast in 1714 by Richard Phelps, ten years after the spire was built, and the trebles very soon after.
He cast a large number of bells for London churches.
Last bell cast
The last bell bearing Phelps's name was the priests' bell at St. George's SouthwarkSt George's Cathedral, Southwark
St George's Cathedral, Southwark, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Archdiocese of Southwark, south London.The Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Roman Catholic Province of Southwark which covers the Archdiocese of Southwark and the Dioceses of Arundel and Brighton, Portsmouth, and Plymouth...
, inscribed: "R. Phelps 1738 T. Lester Fecit." Phelps died in 1738, and the order for this bell was completed by his foreman Thomas Lester, to whom he bequeathed his business and the lease of the foundry.