Christopher Hodson (bellfounder)
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Christopher Hodson (bellfounder)
Christopher Hodson (died ) was an English bellfounder from London, who was active between 1669 and 1696. He cast several notable sets of bells, including Great Tom of Oxford (which weighs six and a quarter tonnes), and the bells for the Chapel at Merton College, also in Oxford, which are known as the oldest peal of bells in the United Kingdom which were cast by one founder. The bells are also noted for their rather unusual ringing room; a gallery snaking around the inside of the tower.Dove.cccbr.org.uk. (2018). Dove Details. nlineAvailable at: http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=merton&Submit=+Go+&DoveID=OXFORD+CME ccessed 26 Apr. 2018 Two bells cast by Christopher Hodson are on display at St Oswald's Church, Durham St Oswald's Church is a Church of England parish church in Durham, County Durham. The church is a grade II* listed building and it dates from the 12th century. History The present church dates from the late 12th century. It is likely built on the ... ...
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Bellfounding
Bellfounding is the casting and tuning of large bronze bells in a foundry for use such as in 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 BCE 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 founders such as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and John Taylor & Co of Loughborough. Elsewhere in the world a number of foundries are still activ ...
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London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ...
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Tom Tower
Tom Tower is a bell tower in Oxford, England, named after its bell, Great Tom. It is over Tom Gate, on St Aldates, the main entrance of Christ Church, Oxford, which leads into Tom Quad. This square tower with an octagonal lantern and facetted ogee dome was designed by Christopher Wren and built 1681–82. The strength of Oxford architectural tradition and Christ Church's connection to its founder, Henry VIII, motivated the decision to complete the gatehouse structure, left unfinished by Cardinal Wolsey at the date of his fall from power in 1529, and which had remained roofless since. Wren made a case for working in a Late Gothic style—that it "ought to be Gothick to agree with the Founders worke"—a style that had not been seen in a prominent building for a hundred and fifty years, making Tom Tower a lonely precursor of the Gothic Revival that got underway in the mid-18th century. Wren never came to supervise the structure as it was being erected by the stonemason he had ...
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Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world; it has buildings in every style of English architecture since late Anglo-Saxon. Oxford's industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing, information technology and science. History The history of Oxford in England dates back to its original settlement in the Saxon period. Originally of strategic significance due to its controlling location on the upper reaches of the River Thames at its junction with the River Cherwell, the town grew in national importance during the early Norman period, and in the late 12th century became home to the fledgling University of Oxford. The city was besieged during The Anarchy in 1142. The university rose to dom ...
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Merton College Chapel
Merton College Chapel is the church of Merton College, Oxford, England. Dedicated to St Mary and St John the Baptist, the chapel was largely completed in its present form by the end of the 13th century. The building retains a number of original stained glass windows, and is noted for its acoustics. A choral foundation was established in 2008 by Peter Phillips. History 13th century origins On 13 September 1266 the church of St John the Baptist was granted to the scholars of Merton College by the Abbey of Reading. However, by the late 1280s it had fallen into "a ruinous condition", and Merton college accounts show that work on a new church on the same site began in about 1290. The present choir with its enormous east window was complete by 1294. The window is an important example (because it is so well dated) of how the strict geometrical conventions of the Early English Period of architecture were beginning to be relaxed at the end of the 13th century. Unusually for an Engli ...
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Merton College, Oxford
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III of England, Henry III and later to Edward I of England, Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to support it. An important feature of de Merton's foundation was that this "college" was to be self-governing and the endowments were directly vested in the Warden and Fellows. By 1274, when Walter retired from royal service and made his final revisions to the college statutes, the community was consolidated at its present site in the south east corner of the city of Oxford, and a rapid programme of building commenced. The hall and the Merton College Chapel, chapel and the rest of the front quad were complete before the end of the 13th ...
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Peal
In campanology (bell ringing), a peal is the special name given to a specific type of performance of change ringing which meets certain exacting conditions for duration, complexity and quality. The definition of a peal has changed considerably over the years and its standardisation was one of the motivating factors in the formation of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers in 1891.Sir Arthur Percival Heywood and the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers by Chris Mew, CC President. The Ringing World 22 April 2016 Currently, for a performance to be recognised as a peal by the Central Council it must consist of sufficient numerical sequences, or "changes" (at least 5,040 changes on up to seven working bells or 5,000 changes on higher numbers), meet a number of other criteria (collectively referred to as the ''decisions''), and be published in ''The Ringing World''. On typical tower bells a peal takes around three hours to ring; the time depends on several factors including t ...
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St Oswald's Church, Durham
St Oswald's Church is a Church of England parish church in Durham, County Durham. The church is a grade II* listed building and it dates from the 12th century. History The present church dates from the late 12th century. It is likely built on the site of an earlier church. It was rebuilt in 1834 by Ignatius Bonomi. In 1864, Hodgson Fowler rebuilt the tower and the chancel, and added an organ chamber. The church has stained glass windows. The west window dates from 1864 to 1866 and was designed by Morris & Co with some panels by Ford Madox Brown. Other windows were designed by Kempe and Co., and by Clayton and Bell. On 6 May 1952, the church was designated a grade II* listed building. In 1984, the organ and part of the chancel were destroyed by fire. A new organ was built by Peter Collins to the specifications of the organist David Higgins, and installed in a new gallery at the west end of the church. The organ was restored in 2019. Present day St Oswald's Church is part of ...
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Bell Foundries Of The United Kingdom
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an internal "clapper" or "uvula", an external hammer, or—in small bells—by a small loose sphere enclosed within the body of the bell (jingle bell). Bells are usually cast from bell metal (a type of bronze) for its resonant properties, but can also be made from other hard materials. This depends on the function. Some small bells such as ornamental bells or cowbells can be made from cast or pressed metal, glass or ceramic, but large bells such as a church, clock and tower bells are normally cast from bell metal. Bells intended to be heard over a wide area can range from a single bell hung in a turret or bell-gable, to a musical ensemble such as an English ring of bells, a carillon or a Russian zvon which are tuned to a common scale and installe ...
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People From London
The lists of people from London, England is divided by London borough. A person from London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ... is known as a Londoner. Further reading * {{DEFAULTSORT:London, people from ...
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History Of Oxford
' The history of Oxford in England dates back to its original settlement in the Saxon period. Originally of strategic significance due to its controlling location on the upper reaches of the River Thames at its junction with the River Cherwell. The town grew in national importance during the Norman period. The University of Oxford was established in the 12th-century and would eventually dominate the activity within the town, this also resulted in several town and gown conflicts. The city was besieged during The Anarchy in 1142 and Oxford Castle was attacked during the Barons War in the early 13th century. Oxford was greatly affected during the English Reformation, brought on by Henry VIII in his dissolution of the monasteries. The town also played an important role in the English Civil War, where it experienced another siege when it housed the court of Charles I. Later in the 19th and 20th century, the town grew and underwent an industrial boom where major printing and car-manufa ...
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