Join London bell ringer and belfry archaeologist Dickon Love for Salon No.98
Doors: 7:00pm
Tickets £9 [£7 concession]
For almost ten years, Salon for the City has convened monthly to bring together authors, historians, artists or cultural commentators, talking on themes ranging across culture, literature, history, and beyond - but there is only ever one subject: London.
There are 48 churches and places of worship within London's square mile. 43 have bells which have played an extraordinary role in the life, history and folklore of the city.
For hundreds of years the city churches were the tallest structures in the city allowing them an unobstructed transmission of sound. As well as the calls to worship, bells rang the closure of the city gates, curfew calls and regulated local Londoners day, life and identity. The most famous instance is of course Bow Bells - London folklore dictates those born within its range are true Cockneys.
Bell ringer and belfry archaeologist Dickon Love comes to the salon to give a glimpse into their extraordinary life - past and present
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was Britain's oldest manufacturing company, stablished in 1570, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It made some of the most famous bells in history, including those in St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the Bow Bells for St Mary-le-Bow, the original Liberty Bell - an icon of American independence - and new bells for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 Olympics.
The site, which is steeped in local history, survived the Blitz but in 2021 Campaigners lost a long fight to save the foundry: from being turned into a boutique hotel ringing the death knell to 450 years of London history
Charles Harles Saumarez Smith will consider the history of the Foundry, its sale to a New York-based property developer, the international campaign to retain its use as a working foundry and why it may have failed.
Dickon Love is an active bellringer in the City of London and is a Past Master of the Ancient Society of College Youths, who are responsible for ringing the bells at the major towers in the City. He is Tower Keeper/Captain at St Magnus the Martyr, St James Garlickhythe and St Mary Woolnoth. he is author of the extraordinary online archive'Love's Guide to the Bells of the City of London'
Charles Saumarez Smith was Director of the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and, from 2007 to 2018, Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts. He lives in Stepney and writes about architecture for The Critic.