Rudhall of Gloucester was a family business of bell founders in the city of Gloucester, England, who between 1684 and 1835 cast more than 5,000 bells.

History

There had been a tradition of bell casting in Gloucester since before the 14th century. The family business was founded by Abraham Rudhall (1657–1736) who developed a method of tuning bells by turning on a

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to c ...

rather than the traditional ''chipping'' method with a chisel. One of the earliest ring of bells he cast was for St Nicholas' Church, Oddington in 1684. He came to be described as the greatest bell-founder of his age. The business was continued by his eldest son, also called Abraham (1680–1735), his son Abel (1714–60), and three of Abel's sons, Thomas (?1740–83), Charles (1746–1815) and John (1760–1835). In 1815 John Rudhall was declared bankrupt and the bell foundry bought by Mears & Stainbank who owned the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The business formally closed in 1828 but bells bearing John's name have been found with dates up to 1835. ()

Selected bells

Five bells cast in 1702 by Abraham Rudhall I hang in St James the Great,

West Hanney West Hanney is a village and civil parish about north of Wantage, Oxfordshire, England. Historically West and East Hanney were formerly a single ecclesiastical parish of Hanney. East Hanney was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary cha ...

, Oxfordshire. A sixth was recast in 1856. In 1706 and 1707 Abraham Rudhall I cast three of the bells of

Great Malvern Priory Great Malvern Priory in Malvern, Worcestershire, England, was a Benedictine monastery (c. 1075 – 1540) and is now an Anglican parish church. In 1949 it was designated a Grade I listed building. It is a dominant building in the Great Malvern ...

. In 1710 Abraham Rudhall I cast six bells for SS Michael and

Wulfhad Saints Wulfhad and Ruffin (or Wulfhade, Wulfad) were legendary 7th-century Christian martyrs from the royal family of Mercia. They were said to have been baptized by Saint Chad of Mercia, and their pagan father was said to have killed them at Ston ...

's church in Stone, Staffordshire. In 2012 the four heaviest bells, including the tenor, were re-hung in the church but the other two were replaced by new bells cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The two redundant bells were moved to St Michael's Tower, Gloucester, near to where they were cast. Three of the bells of St Mary Magdalene,

Adlestrop Adlestrop () is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, east of Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, England, on the county boundary with Oxfordshire. The River Evenlode forms the southwest boundary of the parish. The village is on a strea ...

were cast by Abraham Rudhall I in 1711. Six of the bells in the Church of St Leonard, Middleton, Greater Manchester were cast by Abraham Rudhall I in 1714. Five of the bells of St Michael and All Angels, Great Torrington were cast by Abraham Rudhal I in 1716. Six of the bells in Pershore Abbey were cast in 1729 by Abraham Rudhall II: a seventh (also 1727) was recast in 1897. Six bells by Abel Rudhall (cast in 1738 and 1753) hang in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. Eight

change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in which the ringers commit to memor ...

bells (tenor: in F) at Old North Church in Boston were cast by Abel Rudhall in 1744 and hung in 1745. One bell has the inscription: "We are the first ring of bells cast for the British Empire in North America, A.R. 1744." All eight bells from the Church of St Anne, Shandon, an iconic symbol of

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland, were cast by Abel Rudhall in 1750, although they were recast twice in 1865 and 1906. Four bells of Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork, including the tenor, remain from the ring of eight cast by Abel Rudhall in 1751. Five bells cast by Abel Rudhall in 1757 still hang in Wells Cathedral. Bells cast in 1762 by Thomas Rudhall hang in St George's, Kelmscott, Oxfordshire.

References

{{Bells Bell foundries of the United Kingdom Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom 1684 establishments in England 1828 disestablishments Companies based in Gloucester Industrial history of Gloucestershire