Reconstruction of Thomas Pennington’s foundry

The reconstruction shows the interior of the room in which the Pennington family cast bells. On the left is the stoking hole of the furnace in which the bell metal was melted. To the right is the casting pit, in which up to four bells could be cast at one time. The drawing shows different stages in the process: the formation of a brick base (bottom left); the shaping of a clay model of the bell using a rotating paddle or strickle (bottom right); the baking of the outer and inner moulds (top left) and preparation for the casting (top right).

Acknowledgments: Piran Bishop, Exeter Archaeology