Index to carillons and chimes
by Gillett & Johnston

The Gillett & Johnston foundry, now closed, provided bells for various carillons and chimes throughout the world. See the bottom of this page for some historical notes plus a link to an important new book about this foundry's work.

The sites are listed in order by year of installation (unknown first). For a given year, they are in order by country and city.
Following the year is an indication of the founder's contribution to the instrument:

C = Complete instrument
F = Foundation; originally a complete installation, later expanded
I = Intermediate expansion
E = Final expansion to current state
R = Recast/replaced

Finally, there is an indication of the type of instrument:

  trad      - carillon with traditional keyboard
  trad*     - carillon with traditional keyboard now,
              but with other mechanism and/or chime size at the date cited
  non-trad  - carillon with non-traditional mechanism
  non-trad* - carillon with non-traditional mechanism,
              but chime size at the date cited
  chime     - chime (any mechanism)
  ring      - bells hung for change ringing (chime-sized)
  great     - great bell (over 4 tonnes weight) not in a chime or carillon
  [...]     - instrument is defunct; link is to "sites that are no more"

NOTE: Rings cast for places in the British Isles are not listed here, regardless of size.
Some chimes cast for places in the British Isles are not yet included.

(Note: early chimes have not yet been categorized under the appropriate company headings because the exact inscriptions on the bells have not been confirmed.)

Gillett & Bland, England (1877?-1881?)

Gillett, Bland & Company, Croydon, England (1878-1884?)

Gillett & Company, Croydon, England (1882-1892?)

Gillett & Johnston, Croydon, England (1889?-1957)

CROYDON - MOBILE              : ENGLAND      19?? C  [trad]
   Travelling carillon

KIRKCALDY                     : SCOTLAND-FI  1880 C  chime
   St.Bricedale Parish Church
PAISLEY                       : SCOTLAND-RE  1882 C  chime
   Town Hall
PIETERMARITZBURG              : S AFRICA     1899*C  chime
   City Hall Tower
   * bells cast 1896-99
LONDON - STPA                 : CANADA - ON  1901 F  chime
   St.Paul's Cathedral (Anglican)
MONTRÉAL - STG                : CANADA - QU  1901 C  chime
   St.George's Anglican Church 
Toronto                       : CANADA - ON  1901 -  great
   Old City Hall
KINGSTON                      : CANADA - ON  1911 C  chime
   St.Andrew's Presbyterian Church
GREENOCK                      : SCOTLAND-RE  1912 F  chime
   St.George North Church (of Scotland)
GREENOCK                      : SCOTLAND-RE  1913 R  chime
   St.George North Church (of Scotland)
HALIFAX - STJ                 : CANADA - NS  1920 C  chime
   St.John's United Church 
HALIFAX - STM                 : CANADA - NS  1920 R  chime
   St.Mary's Cathedral Basilica (RC) 
CROYDON - GJF                 : ENGLAND -SR  1920 C  [non-trad]
   Gillett & Johnston foundry tower 
KENNERLEIGH                   : ENGLAND -DE  1920 C  chime
   St.John the Baptist Anglican Church 
LONDON - RE                   : ENGLAND -EC  1920 C  chime
   The Royal Exchange 
TORONTO - MUC                 : CANADA - ON  1922 F  trad
   Massey/Drury Memorial Carillon
   Metropolitan United Church 
PETERBOROUGH                  : USA - NH     1923 F  chime
   All Saints Episcopal Church 
PLAINFIELD                    : USA - NJ     1923 F  trad
   Pittis Carillon
   Grace Episcopal Church 
SIMCOE                        : CANADA - ON  1924*C  trad
   Norfolk County War Memorial 
   * Exhibited in 1924; not installed here until 1925
COHASSET                      : USA - MA     1924 F  trad
   The Cohasset Carillon 
   (formerly known as the Bancroft Memorial Carillon
     or the Jesse M. Barron Memorial Carillon)
   St.Stephen's Episcopal Church 
WEST TORONTO                  : CANADA - ON  1924 C  chime
   St.John's (West Toronto) Anglican Church 
ALMELO - G                    : NETHERLANDS  1925 C (trad)
   Sint Georgiustoren
HERTOGENBOSCH - STJ           : NETHERLANDS  1925 F  trad
   Sint-Janskathedraal
     (Sint-Jansbasiliek)
COHASSET                      : USA - MA     1925 I  trad
   The Cohasset Carillon 
   (formerly known as the Bancroft Memorial Carillon
     or the Jesse M. Barron Memorial Carillon)
   St.Stephen's Episcopal Church 
NEW YORK - RC                 : USA - NY     1925*F  trad
   Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon
   Riverside Church (interdenominational: ABC/UCC)
   * cast for Park Avenue Baptist Church
TILBURG - STJ                 : NETHERLANDS  1925 C [trad]
   Sint Josefskerk (or Heuvelsekerk)
CHOBHAM                       : ENGLAND      1926 F [non-trad]
   Estate of H.O.Serpell
DETROIT - JAPC                : USA - MI     1926 C  trad
   Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church 
EAST ORANGE                   : USA - NJ     1926 C  chime
   Our Lady Help of Christians Church 
GUELPH                        : CANADA - ON  1926 F  trad
   Cutten Memorial Carillon
   St.George's Anglican Church 
Philadelphia                  : USA - PA     1926 -  great
   PNB-First Union Bank Building
   (formerly John Wanamaker's Department Store)
TORONTO - STJO                : CANADA - ON  1926 C  chime
   St.John the Baptist / 
   St.John's (Norway) Anglican Church 
MERCERSBURG                   : USA - PA     1926 F  trad
   The Henry Bucher Swoope Carillon
   Barker Tower 
   Chapel 
   Mercersburg Academy 
BARNEVELD - NH                : NETHERLANDS  1927 F  trad
   Jan van Schaffelaartoren
    (or)  St.Odulphustoren
   Ned.Herv.Kerk
DUMBARTON                     : SCOTLAND-DB  1927 F  trad*
   St.Patrick's Church (RC) 
CHICAGO - STC                 : USA - IL     1927 C  trad
   Crane Memorial Carillon
   St.Chrysostom's Episcopal Church 
FOND DU LAC                   : USA - WI     1927 F  chime
   Cathedral Church of St.Paul (Episcopal)
GATES MILLS                   : USA - OH     1927 F  trad*
   Church of St.Christopher-by-the-River
GROSSE POINTE FARMS - GPMC    : USA - MI     1927 F  trad*
   Memorial Tower 
   The Grosse Pointe Memorial Church 
     (Presbyterian/PCUSA) 
OTTAWA - PT                   : CANADA - ON  1927 C  trad
   Peace Tower
   Houses of Parliament
COVENTRY                      : ENGLAND -WA  1927 C  chime/ring
   Cathedral Church of St.Michael
PRINCETON - PU                : USA - NJ     1927 F  trad
   The Class of 1892 Bells
   Grover Cleveland Tower 
   Graduate College 
   Princeton University 
TORONTO - UT                  : CANADA - ON  1927 F  trad
   Soldiers' Tower 
   University of Toronto 
HILVARENBEEK                  : NETHERLANDS  1928 C (trad)
   R.K.Kerk St.Petrus-Banden
   (St. Peter in Chains)
LEUVEN - UL                   : BELGIUM      1928 F  trad
   American Engineers' Memorial Carillon
   Universiteitsbibliotheek
   (University Library)
LEUVEN - SJD                  : BELGIUM      1928 *  chime
   Sint-Jan-de-Doperkerk
   (St.John the Baptist Church)
   * cast as the trebles of the University Library
LONDON - A                    : ENGLAND -W   1928 C  trad
   The Atkinson Carillon
   J.Fox & Co.
   (previously Atkinson's Stores) 
LONDON - RC                   : ENGLAND -W   1928 C  non-trad
   Odeon/Regal Theatre Carillon
   (in storage) 
   somewhere in Cornwall, England 
SNEEK                         : NETHERLANDS  1929 C (trad)
   Sint-Maartenstoren (Martinikerk)
   N.H.Kerk (Grote Kerk)
DUMBARTON                     : SCOTLAND-DB  1928 E  trad
   St.Patrick's Church (RC) 
COHASSET                      : USA - MA     1928 I  trad
   The Cohasset Carillon 
   (formerly known as the Bancroft Memorial Carillon
     or the Jesse M. Barron Memorial Carillon)
   St.Stephen's Episcopal Church 
ANN ARBOR - K                 : USA - MI     1928 F  chime
   Kerrytown Chime 
   Kerrytown Shops 
   cast as trebles for the Cohasset carillon
EAST LANSING                  : USA - MI     1928 F  trad*
   Beaumont Tower 
   Michigan State University 
NORWOOD                       : USA - MA     1928 F  trad
   Walter F. Tilton Memorial Carillon
   Norwood Memorial Municipal Building
     (Soldiers Memorial, WW I) 
ROCHESTER                     : USA - MN     1928 F  trad
   The Rochester Carillon
   Plummer Building
   Mayo Clinic
SELLERSVILLE                  : USA - PA     1928*C  trad
   Schulmerich Carillons, Inc.
   * cast for Ward-Belmont School, Nashville, TN; 
     moved here in 1952
WYKE                          : ENGLAND -YW  1929 C  chime
   St.Mary the Virgin Parish Church 
BREDA - OLV                   : NETHERLANDS  1929 I  trad
   O.L.Vrouwetoren (Grote Kerk)
ENSCHEDE                      : NETHERLANDS  1929 C (trad)
   Stadstoren
   Groote Kerk (N.H.Kerk)
CLYDEBANK                     : SCOTLAND-SC  1929 C  chime    
   Town Hall 
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS - STP       : USA - OH     1929 F  trad*
   Harry A. & Mariah H. Seabrook and 
     Thomas Family Memorial Carillon
   St.Paul's Episcopal Church 
MARIEMONT                     : USA - OH     1929 F  trad
   Mary M. Emery Memorial Carillon
   Thomas J. Emery Memorial Carillon Tower 
   Dogwood Park 
LIEGE - STJ                   : BELGIUM      1930 E  trad
   St.Jan-Evangelistkerk
LONDON - RC                   : ENGLAND -W   1930 R  non-trad
   Odeon/Regal Theatre Carillon
   (in storage) 
   somewhere in Cornwall, England 
CARRICKMACROSS                : IRELAND -MN  1930 C  chime
   St.Joseph Catholic Church
EAST LANSING                  : USA - MI     1930 I  trad*
   Beaumont Tower 
   Michigan State University 
JERUSALEM - YMCA              : ISRAEL       1930 C  trad
   Jesus Tower, YMCA 
OLDENZAAL                     : NETHERLANDS  1930 F  trad
   Sint-Plechelmustoren
     (St.Plechelmus Basilica)
BRANDON                       : CANADA - MB  1931*C  chime
   St.George's Anglican Church 
   relocated in 1969-76
FOULRIDGE                     : ENGLAND -LA  1931 C  chime
   St.Michael & All Angels Parish Church 
FRIMLEY                       : ENGLAND -SR  1931 C  chime
   St.Peter Parish Church 
Colorado Springs              : USA - CO     1931 -  great
   Shove Chapel
   The Colorado College
MANCHESTER - HN               : ENGLAND -LA  1931 C  chime
   Church of the Holy Name (RC)
WINSCHOTEN                    : NETHERLANDS  1931 C (trad)
   St.Vitustoren, "Olle Witte"
   Ned.Herv.Kerk
NEW MILFORD                   : USA - CT     1931 C  trad
   Jose M. Ferrer Memorial Carillon
   Chapel of Our Lady 
   Canterbury School 
NEW YORK - RC                 : USA - NY     1931 I  trad
   Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon
   Riverside Church (interdenominational: ABC/UCC)
WELLESLEY                     : USA - MA     1931 F  trad
   Galen L. Stone Tower 
   Green Hall 
   Wellesley College 
SALTLEY                       : ENGLAND -WA  1932 C  trad
   Our Lady's Carillon
   Our Lady of the Rosary and 
     St.Thérèse of Lisieux RC Church
SECLIN                        : FRANCE       1932 C  trad
   Collégiale Saint-Piat
PORTADOWN                     : N IRELAND-R  1932 C  chime
   St.Mark's Church (C.I.) 
CHICAGO - UC                  : USA - IL     1932 C  trad
   The Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon
   Rockefeller Memorial Chapel 
   University of Chicago 
BLACKBURN                     : ENGLAND -LA  1932 C  chime
   St.Jude Parish Church
CHOBHAM                       : ENGLAND      1932 E  [non-trad]
   Estate of H.O.Serpell
DEPTFORD                      : ENGLAND -SE  1932 C  chime
   St.Luke's Parish Church
WELLINGTON - WM               : NEW ZEALAND  1932 F  trad
   National War Memorial Carillon
   National War Memorial
CONCORD - S                   : USA - NH     1933 C  trad
   Houghton Memorial Carillon
   Chapel of St.Peter and St.Paul 
   St.Paul's School 
BOURNVILLE                    : ENGLAND -WO  1934 E  trad
   The George Cadbury Memorial Carillon
     (The Bournville Carillon)
   School Tower 
LONDON - STPA                 : CANADA - ON  1935 R  chime
   St.Paul's Cathedral (Anglican)
LONDON - HW                   : ENGLAND -EC  1935 C  chime
   133, Houndsditch 
   (was Hounsditch Warehouse Company) 
GERMISTON                     : S AFRICA     1935 C  non-trad?
   City Hall Tower
PERTH                         : SCOTLAND-PR  1935 R  trad
   St.John's Kirk
   (St.John the Baptist Church) 
NORWOOD                       : USA - MA     1935 R  trad
   Walter F. Tilton Memorial Carillon
   Norwood Memorial Municipal Building
     (Soldiers Memorial, WW I) 
EAST LANSING                  : USA - MI     1935 I  trad
   Beaumont Tower 
   Michigan State University 
GROSSE POINTE FARMS - CC      : USA - MI     1935 F  trad
   Christ Church 
LITTLE WALSINGHAM             : ENGLAND -NF  1936 F  chime
   Shrine Church of Our Lady of Walsingham
   (The Pilgrim's Hospice) 
MADISON - UW                  : USA - WI     1936 F  trad
   Memorial Carillon
   Carillon Tower 
   University of Wisconsin 
PORT ELIZABETH - CM           : S AFRICA     1936 C  trad
   Campanile (Colonist Monument) 
MADISON - UW                  : USA - WI     1937 I  trad
   Memorial Carillon
   Carillon Tower 
   University of Wisconsin 
DUNFERMLINE                   : SCOTLAND-FI  1938 F  non-trad
   Dunfermline Abbey 
GROSSE POINTE FARMS - CC      : USA - MI     1938 I  trad
   Christ Church 
VICTORIA - MUC                : CANADA - BC  1938 C  [chime]
   First-Metropolitan United Church
   (now Victoria Conservatory of Music)
SAN FRANCISCO - GC            : USA - CA     1939*C  non-trad
   North Tower 
   Grace Cathedral (Episcopal) 
   * not installed here until 1943
WICHITA - I                   : USA - KS     1939 C  chime
   Immanuel Lutheran Church 
CHARLOTTE - MPUM              : USA - NC     1945 F  non-trad*
   Myers Park United Methodist Church 
BRIDGE OF WEIR                : SCOTLAND-RE  1946 C  chime
   Mount Zion Church
   Quarriers Homes
   (was Orphan Homes of Scotland)
ROCKHAMPTON                   : AUSTRALIA    1946 C  chime
   St.Paul's Cathedral (Anglican)
DUNFERMLINE                   : SCOTLAND-FI  1947 I  non-trad
   Dunfermline Abbey 
CHARLOTTESVILLE               : USA - VA     1947 C  trad
   Christ Episcopal Church 
STAMFORD - FPC                : USA - CT     1947 F  trad
   Walter N. Maguire Memorial Carillon
   Maguire Memorial Tower 
   First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)
CAMBRIDGE                     : USA - NY      ""  -  chime
   New Skete Monastery (Eastern Orthodox) 
   (12 trebles formerly in STAMFORD - FPC)
NEWCASTLE                     : CANADA - NB  1947 C  chime
   St.James & St.John United Church 
   (was St.James United Church) 
CROYDON - MOBILE              : ENGLAND -SR  1949 C  [trad]
   Gillett & Johnston Traveling Carillon 
Berlin                        : GERMANY      1950 -  great
   Schöneberg Rathaus (City Hall)
ALSTON                        : ENGLAND -CU  1950 C  chime
   St.Augustine Parish Church 
GREENOCK                      : SCOTLAND-RE  1950 E  chime
   St.George North Church (of Scotland)
WYTHAM                        : ENGLAND -BR  1951 C  chime
   All Saints Parish Church 
CULVER                        : USA - IN     1951 C  trad
   Memorial Chapel 
   The Culver Academies 
   (formerly Culver Military Academy) 
PERTH - STM                   : AUSTRALIA    1951 C  chime
   St.Mary's Cathedral (RC)
ABERDEEN - STN                : SCOTLAND-AB  1952 R  trad
   Municipal Carillon
   St.Nicholas' Church 
HONG KONG                     : CHINA - HK   1953 C  chime
   St.John's Anglican Cathedral
ABERDEEN - STN                : SCOTLAND-AB  1954 E  trad
   Municipal Carillon
   St.Nicholas' Church 
CALGARY - CH                  : CANADA - AB  1956 C* ring
   Christ Church 
   * (joint endeavor with Taylor; some cast 1952)
EAST LANSING                  : USA - MI     1957 I  trad
   Beaumont Tower 
   Michigan State University 
   (cast at Taylor foundry, tuned by G&J;
    the last 4 G&J bells ever produced.)

Historical Notes:

The firm traces its roots to William Gillett, who set up shop in 1844 as a maker of small clocks. Later he was joined in partnership by Charles Bland, and they began making turret clocks (tower clocks) under the name Gillett & Bland. In 1877, Arthur Anderson Johnston joined the partnership, now renamed Gillett, Bland & Co., and the firm added a foundry to produce their own bells for use with tower clocks and for other purposes.

It's not clear just when some of the changes of name occurred. There was certainly some overlap of usage, because single bells are known with names and dates as follows:
Gillett & Bland (1878-1881)
Gillett, Bland & Co. (1878-84)
Gillett & Co. (1883-1892)
By 1889, the name of the firm had been changed to Gillett & Johnston, though "Gillett & Co." bells have been seen with dates as late as 1892, and the earliest bells carrying the Gillett & Johnston name are dated 1891 (uncertain) or 1893.

After Arthur's son Cyril joined the firm and developed the modern tuning principles pioneered by the Taylor foundry, they were for a time one of the world's largest producers of carillons, most of which were exported to North America. Cyril Johnston lost control of the firm in 1948 because of financial problems, and he died in 1950. Thereafter, the foundry declined rapidly, closing in 1957; the clock-making business was purchased by the present family ownership in 1960 or 1965 (accounts vary).

Total output of the bellfoundry to North America:

   29 traditional carillons (plus 8 expansions thereof)
    1 non-traditional carillon
   14 chimes (plus two recastings)
    1 ring (joint endeavor with Taylor)
    3 great bells not in carillons

(Smaller single bells are known, but are not listed here nor counted.)

Links:

Now available:

ENGLAND's CHILD: The Carillon and the Casting of Big Bells
by Jill Johnston
published by Cadmus Editions in 2008
hardcover, 311 + xiv pp., with illustrations, appendices and index
See the author's Website;
for more information about the book, click "England's Child" near the top of the left column of the page.
To purchase the book, click "Add to Cart" on either page, and follow the instructions.
Reviewers all over the world have been enthusiastically favorable.
I have found this book fascinatingly informative and helpful. Highly recommended!
/s/ Carl Scott Zimmerman, Webmaster and database owner
Appendix 2 of the book corresponds to the carillon work which is indexed on this Webpage, with the following differences (some errata, some not):

The order in which items of work are listed on this index page is the same as that used for similar index pages on this Website. Therefore, a carillon which grew in stages has multiple entries in the index. Assigning sequence numbers to instruments is difficult, because the foundry usually had several jobs in process simultaneously, and the bells for one instrument were often cast over a period of several months.
1920: We treat the foundry tower instrument as probably an automatic carillon.
4th (Simcoe): Described as "1924-25 Cast and installed", though actually cast entirely in 1924 and installed here in 1925 (see index entry above).
7th ('s Hertogenbosch): "Sint-Janskathedraal" might better be translated as "St.John's Cathedral".

1927: Could have included Gates Mills (see above), a G&J chime which was later expanded to a carillon by another foundry.
17th (East Lansing): Described as "1928-35", though actually cast and installed in three distinct parts during that period. See also the note on the last entry in the index above.
23rd (Dumbarton): Treated as a unit, though actually cast and installed in two distinct parts, as listed in the index above.
25th (Enschede): The carillon is not in the tower of the City Hall, but in the city-owned tower of the Dutch Reformed Church.
26th (Sneek): "1928" is an error for which CSZ is responsible, having provided that information to Jill; actually, all 25 bells were cast in Feb-Aug 1929.
27th (Leuven): 1929 is a misprint; all 48 bells were cast in 1928, along with a 1/4 scale (but 1/48 weight rather than 1/64) model of the bourdon.
1929, Cleveland Heights: could have been omitted (not just left un-numbered), since G&J did not do the expansion to a carillon.
36th (Seclin - "Seelin" is a misprint): The carillon is installed in the tower identified here, and not in the "Hôtel de Ville" (City Hall).
38th (NYC/Riverside): Although this is described as if it were a separate instrument from the 9th (NYC/Park Avenue), in fact the Park Avenue bells were moved to Riverside to form the core of the record-breaking new carillon. Given that the frame, keyboard, etc., were all new, either position is justifiable.
Endnote: For G&J instruments installed by Eijsbouts in the Netherlands, that fact is now mentioned in the Remarks block of the pertinent site data pages. The Eijsbouts firm did not become a bellfoundry until after World War II, and did not receive the appellation "Royal" until 1972. For a summary of their history, see the end of their foundry index page.

The city of Croydon once listed the former foundry (demolished in 1997) as an Industrial Heritage Site.

A Heritage page about the foundry has a photo of the clock tower (whose belfry housed a chime and a carillon at different times), a photo of the case for casting the Wanamaker bell, and casting a bell (possibly the same one).

Although the bellfoundry is closed, the name of the firm has been carried forward by the present owners in the original trade as clockmakers. Their Website presents a rather brief outline of the corporate history. Contact information (presumably still current) may also be found here.

Return to Indexes to bellfoundries.

This index page was built from the database on 08-Jul-01 and last updated on 3-May-08.

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