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  • The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine
  • May 6, 1865
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, May 6, 1865: Page 2

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    Article GRAND LODGE PROPERTY. ← Page 2 of 2
    Article CHURCH BELLS: THEIR ANTIQUITIES AND CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE. Page 1 of 3 →
Page 2

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Grand Lodge Property.

to the Lower Corridor must , for the present , be used . It is hoped , however , that this will only be necessary in the case of W . M . ' s and others when leaving the Lodge of Benevolence late iu the evening . For the present , and during the time that the front of the old Tavern is being pulled down and the fiiixuh of Freemasons' Hall is"being built , all lodges hitherto

meeting in the Tavern will be provided with lodgo and anterooms , in tho same manner as tho tenants have hitherto provided them—that is to say , without- any additional charge being made for them by the Society . So soon as Freemasons' Hall , is completed , and tho tenants of the Tavern are put into possession of rooms equal in amount to the extent of their former

accommodation , such a rent as may be determined on will be required to be paid by all lodges , who may continue to use the new rooms . It will be evident , as these rooms are built ivith tho moneys of the Oraft generally , that such lodges as derive especial advantages from the use of them should , in tho form of rent , pay interest upon the outlay for construction , furniture , & c . This ought not , however , to involve lodges in much ( if any ) extra expense , inasmuch as hitherto the charge made by the Tavern for banquets has been considered to cover tho charge for

dining-room , lodge-room , and ante-room , their furniture , fire , and light . In future , a dining-room only will be be provided by the Tavern , and a consequent reduction will , it is understood , bo made in the charge for banquets . Besides those already referred to , there are other minor inconveniences to which the brethren attending lodges

will for a very short time be put to—viz ., the want- of appropriate shelves for hats and cents in three of the ante-rooms , the delay in the fixing of the chandeliers and bracket-lights , the permanent lodge furniture , & c . ; these are all very forward in progress , and will shortly be in their respective jilaces . In the meantime as regards lodge furnituretho TA-oval

, Somerset House and other lodges have most kindly permitted the use of theirs , and the committee trust that every care will bo used to preserve them from damage . The Building ' Committee will spare no pains to promote tho comfort and convenience of the Craft in everyway possible , and will readily consider any suggestions which may be made to them . They earnestly appeal to

the brethren to assist them in protecting from damage the furniture and property of the Society , and above all to use their influence in strictly confining tho use of Freemasons' Hall to Masonic purposes on ! v .

It is arranged that anj- rcireshments which may be required before lodge meetings shall bo served iu the dining-rooms or ante-rooms of the Tavern , so that the lodge-rooms and ante-rooms of the Hail shall be preserved sacredly to ilasoiiic work alone .

Various regulations will require to oe made from tune to time , of which duo notico will be given : for the present it is to be understood that the rooms will be opened at whatever hour the lodges propose to meet , and will be closed punctually at 11 o ' clock , p . m . The "VOL ' s of all lodges now meeting at the Tavern are requested , at their earliest convenience , to send notice

to tho Building Committee of the months , days , and usual hours of meeting of their respective lodges , and to give at least three clays' notice of their requiring aecommodation for lodges of emergency . IN o emergency or other meeting can bo held in Freemasons' Hall without such previous notice has been given . Any complaints or communications which it bo

may desired to make should be addressed to the Building Committee , Freemasons' Hall , W . C , or may be left at their temporary office , No . 6 , in the Lower Corridor , where the chairman will attend , for the present , once at least in each day . Freemasons' Hall , April 27 th , 1865 .

Church Bells: Their Antiquities And Connection With Architecture.

CHURCH BELLS : THEIR ANTIQUITIES AND CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE .

Read at the Architectural Museum , by the Rev . JOHN II . SPERLING , M . A . ( Continued from Page 316 . ) The last century saw the extinction of most of the smaller foundries , or rather their absorption

into the two great establishments at Gloucester and Whitechapel . The Gloucester foundry hacl existed for many centuries . John of Gloucester was a bell-founder there iu the thirteenth century but under the Rudhall family it chiefly came into note during the last century , upon the decline

of the Salisbury trade . Its turn came at last for amalgamation with Whitechapel , ivhieh foundry , at tho beginning of the present century , may have been said to have been the foundry for England ; Market Downham , in Norfolk , the last of the East Anglian foundries , being also sucked into it .

There was again a considerable establishment in Reading during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries : this was removed by the Knights to Southwark , iu 1750 , or there-abouts . and that again flowed into Whitechapel . At the present we have three foundries in England : the

old-established house of Mears ; the Messrs . Warner , of Cripplegafco , who are now getting into a large business iu this department , and the Taylors , of Loug-hton , of whose bells I can also speak very highly , having had several orders executed by them .

So much , in a very cursory way for the history of bells and bell-founding in England . I will O CD now push on to the practical part of the subject , with which ive are more particularly concerned . With all thanks to our three worthy founders of the present day for ivhat they have done and are

doing for ns , I will still say , and I know that if any of them read this they will feel that I am only speaking the truth when I say , that the art of bell-founding in the the present day is not what it ought to be , or what it might be . I lay very little blame , however , on their shoulders , for 1 a : n sorrv to say that no art has met with so little

encouragement as the art of bell-founding , or has been more crippled by tho fatal mistake of expecting great results from very little money . Ancl , believe me , nothing is more easily starved than a church bell . People now expect to get a peal of six for no more than the cost of a proper tenor .

Everything in a bell is the quality of the tone ; the note is a mere result of certain dimensions , and . may , I believe , be reached by metal little thicker than paper . 'Tone depends on the material , the shape , and the thickness of the metal . Consequently , bell-fouuders are sorely tempted to do the

best they can for very inadequate sums of money , and with a result that pleases no one . And so many a tower is furnished with odious ting-tang

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1865-05-06, Page 2” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 29 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_06051865/page/2/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
GRAND LODGE PROPERTY. Article 1
CHURCH BELLS: THEIR ANTIQUITIES AND CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE. Article 2
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 4
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 7
WILFUL DAMAGE TO THE CRAFT. Article 7
Untitled Article 8
METROPOLITAN. Article 8
PROVINCIAL. Article 13
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE. Article 17
ROYAL ARCH. Article 17
MARK MASONRY. Article 18
IRELAND. Article 18
THE WEEK. Article 18
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 20
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Grand Lodge Property.

to the Lower Corridor must , for the present , be used . It is hoped , however , that this will only be necessary in the case of W . M . ' s and others when leaving the Lodge of Benevolence late iu the evening . For the present , and during the time that the front of the old Tavern is being pulled down and the fiiixuh of Freemasons' Hall is"being built , all lodges hitherto

meeting in the Tavern will be provided with lodgo and anterooms , in tho same manner as tho tenants have hitherto provided them—that is to say , without- any additional charge being made for them by the Society . So soon as Freemasons' Hall , is completed , and tho tenants of the Tavern are put into possession of rooms equal in amount to the extent of their former

accommodation , such a rent as may be determined on will be required to be paid by all lodges , who may continue to use the new rooms . It will be evident , as these rooms are built ivith tho moneys of the Oraft generally , that such lodges as derive especial advantages from the use of them should , in tho form of rent , pay interest upon the outlay for construction , furniture , & c . This ought not , however , to involve lodges in much ( if any ) extra expense , inasmuch as hitherto the charge made by the Tavern for banquets has been considered to cover tho charge for

dining-room , lodge-room , and ante-room , their furniture , fire , and light . In future , a dining-room only will be be provided by the Tavern , and a consequent reduction will , it is understood , bo made in the charge for banquets . Besides those already referred to , there are other minor inconveniences to which the brethren attending lodges

will for a very short time be put to—viz ., the want- of appropriate shelves for hats and cents in three of the ante-rooms , the delay in the fixing of the chandeliers and bracket-lights , the permanent lodge furniture , & c . ; these are all very forward in progress , and will shortly be in their respective jilaces . In the meantime as regards lodge furnituretho TA-oval

, Somerset House and other lodges have most kindly permitted the use of theirs , and the committee trust that every care will bo used to preserve them from damage . The Building ' Committee will spare no pains to promote tho comfort and convenience of the Craft in everyway possible , and will readily consider any suggestions which may be made to them . They earnestly appeal to

the brethren to assist them in protecting from damage the furniture and property of the Society , and above all to use their influence in strictly confining tho use of Freemasons' Hall to Masonic purposes on ! v .

It is arranged that anj- rcireshments which may be required before lodge meetings shall bo served iu the dining-rooms or ante-rooms of the Tavern , so that the lodge-rooms and ante-rooms of the Hail shall be preserved sacredly to ilasoiiic work alone .

Various regulations will require to oe made from tune to time , of which duo notico will be given : for the present it is to be understood that the rooms will be opened at whatever hour the lodges propose to meet , and will be closed punctually at 11 o ' clock , p . m . The "VOL ' s of all lodges now meeting at the Tavern are requested , at their earliest convenience , to send notice

to tho Building Committee of the months , days , and usual hours of meeting of their respective lodges , and to give at least three clays' notice of their requiring aecommodation for lodges of emergency . IN o emergency or other meeting can bo held in Freemasons' Hall without such previous notice has been given . Any complaints or communications which it bo

may desired to make should be addressed to the Building Committee , Freemasons' Hall , W . C , or may be left at their temporary office , No . 6 , in the Lower Corridor , where the chairman will attend , for the present , once at least in each day . Freemasons' Hall , April 27 th , 1865 .

Church Bells: Their Antiquities And Connection With Architecture.

CHURCH BELLS : THEIR ANTIQUITIES AND CONNECTION WITH ARCHITECTURE .

Read at the Architectural Museum , by the Rev . JOHN II . SPERLING , M . A . ( Continued from Page 316 . ) The last century saw the extinction of most of the smaller foundries , or rather their absorption

into the two great establishments at Gloucester and Whitechapel . The Gloucester foundry hacl existed for many centuries . John of Gloucester was a bell-founder there iu the thirteenth century but under the Rudhall family it chiefly came into note during the last century , upon the decline

of the Salisbury trade . Its turn came at last for amalgamation with Whitechapel , ivhieh foundry , at tho beginning of the present century , may have been said to have been the foundry for England ; Market Downham , in Norfolk , the last of the East Anglian foundries , being also sucked into it .

There was again a considerable establishment in Reading during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries : this was removed by the Knights to Southwark , iu 1750 , or there-abouts . and that again flowed into Whitechapel . At the present we have three foundries in England : the

old-established house of Mears ; the Messrs . Warner , of Cripplegafco , who are now getting into a large business iu this department , and the Taylors , of Loug-hton , of whose bells I can also speak very highly , having had several orders executed by them .

So much , in a very cursory way for the history of bells and bell-founding in England . I will O CD now push on to the practical part of the subject , with which ive are more particularly concerned . With all thanks to our three worthy founders of the present day for ivhat they have done and are

doing for ns , I will still say , and I know that if any of them read this they will feel that I am only speaking the truth when I say , that the art of bell-founding in the the present day is not what it ought to be , or what it might be . I lay very little blame , however , on their shoulders , for 1 a : n sorrv to say that no art has met with so little

encouragement as the art of bell-founding , or has been more crippled by tho fatal mistake of expecting great results from very little money . Ancl , believe me , nothing is more easily starved than a church bell . People now expect to get a peal of six for no more than the cost of a proper tenor .

Everything in a bell is the quality of the tone ; the note is a mere result of certain dimensions , and . may , I believe , be reached by metal little thicker than paper . 'Tone depends on the material , the shape , and the thickness of the metal . Consequently , bell-fouuders are sorely tempted to do the

best they can for very inadequate sums of money , and with a result that pleases no one . And so many a tower is furnished with odious ting-tang

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