Olympic Bell: Difference between revisions

[[File:Bradley Wiggins 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bradley Wiggins]] began the 2012 opening ceremony by ringing the Olympic Bell.]]The '''Olympic Bell''' was commissioned and cast for the [[2012 Summer Olympics|2012 London Olympic Games]], and is the largest harmonically-tuned bell in the world.<ref name=WBF>{{cite web|title=The Olympic Bell|url=http://www.whitechapelbellfoundry.co.uk/news.htm|work=[[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]]|date=December 2012|accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref> The bell is cast in [[bronze]] [[bell metal]] and is two metres{{convert|2|m|ftin}} high with a diameter of {{convert|3.34 metres|m|ftin}}, and weighs {{long ton|22|18|3|13|lk=on|abbr=off}}.91 tonnes<ref name=WBF/><ref name=DT>{{cite web|title=London 2012: Olympic bell made in Holland|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/london-2012/9215198/London-2012-Olympic-bell-made-in-Holland.html|work=[[Daily Telegraph]]|first=Anita|last=Singh|date=20 April 2012|accessdate=29 July 2013}}</ref> (22 tons 3 quarters 13 lbs: Bellringers normally calibrate bells in terms of UK tons, hundredweights and quarters.)

{{quote box|quote="Bells ring out the changes of our days. They call us to wake, to pray, to work, to arms, to feast and, in times of crisis, to come together. Almost everyone in Britain lives within a [[Church of England parish church|sonic parish]]. Anyone born within hearing of the Bells of [[St Mary-le-Bow]] in [[Cheapside]], London, has the right to call themselves '[[cockney]]' ... Above all, bells are the sound of freedom and peace. Throughout World War II all of Britain's bell towers were stilled, to be rung only in case of emergency. They hung in dusty silence until the day came when they could ring in the peace."|source=Opening ceremony programme, page 13.|width=21%|align=right}}

In September 2011 the [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]], a few miles from the [[Olympic Stadium (London)|Olympic Stadium]], was commissioned to make the bell.<ref name=WBF/> The Foundry completed its design, profile, lettering and tuning. However, it was no longer able to cast such a large bell (its furnace capacity is {{convert|8 tonnes|LT|t|abbr=off}}, as the large [[Victorian era]] bells had gone out of fashion), and so subcontracted casting to [[Royal Eijsbouts]] of the Netherlands.<ref name=DT/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollanduktrade.nl/dutch-technology-shines-gold-at-london-olympics/|work=Holland UK Trade|first=Bram|last=van der Veen|date=13 July 2012|accessdate=29 July 2013|title=Dutch technology shines gold at London Olympics}}</ref> There was some controversy over using a non-British firm, as [[John Taylor & Co|Taylor’s Bell Foundry]] in Loughborough had also tendered to cast the bell.<ref name=DT/><ref name=DM>{{cite web|title=Why the London 2012 bell is being cast in Holland... British firm says ‘we simply don’t have the pouring capacity’|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2132309/Why-London-2012-Olympics-bell-cast-Holland-.html|first = Louise|last=Eccles|work=Daily Mail|date=19 April 2012|accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref> The hammer mechanism and hanging framework were made by other firms and twenty companies in three countries were eventually involved with its production. The bell was installed and tested in the stadium at midnight on 1 June 2012.<ref name=WBF/> It was designed to be as large as possible but needed to fit through the athletes’ tunnel; when it arrived there were only a few inches to spare.<ref>{{cite web|title=Director of Whitechapel Bell Foundry finds it hard "to let go" of Olympic ceremony bell|url=http://www.london24.com/news/director_of_whitechapel_bell_foundry_finds_it_hard_to_let_go_of_olympic_ceremony_bell_1_1466002|first = Else|last=Kvist|work=London24.com|date=31 July 2012|accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref>

The bell is the second heaviest in Europe, after [[St Petersglocke]] in [[Cologne Cathedral]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.towerbells.org/data/EUGreatBellsTable.html|title=Great Bells of Europe by weight|website=www.towerbells.org|accessdate=25 July 2017}}</ref> and the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=London 2012: Bradley Wiggins rings bell to start Olympic ceremony|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19018575|work=BBC Sport|date=27 July 2012|accessdate=24 August 2012}}</ref> Its main note (in [[campanology]], its [[strike tone|'hum tone']]) is a [[B (musical note)|B note]], and so it has the lowest tone in the world.<ref name=WBF/><ref name=Lndnr>{{cite web|url=http://londoneer.org/2012/08/whitechapel-bell-foundry-reveals-its-secrets.html |title=The Whitechapel Bell Foundry Reveals Its Secrets |work=Londoneer |first = Pete|last=Stean|date=6 August 2012|accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref> It is also {{convert|30&nbsp;|cm|in}} wider than the previouslynext-largest bell in Britain, 'Great Paul' at [[St Paul’s Cathedral]] cast by Taylor’s in 1881.<ref name=DM/>