The Taylors established themselves in Loughborough in 1839 and expanded into the world's largest purpose-built bellfoundry. It became a centre of innovation and excellence - sending bells all over the world, but also became a vital part of the local community employing a substantial team of moulders, casters and tuners producing thousands of bells including major projects like "Great Paul" for St Paul's Cathedral in 1881. Since moving to its Freehold Street location in 1859, the foundry has produced over 25,000 bells for over 100 countries. Despite it's longstanding history the foundry faced huge challenges in recent times and years of financial strain left the building in a state of disrepair. The situation worsened in 2009 when the then-owners went into administration. A consortium of dedicated individuals, the bell-ringing community and industry experts rallied together to save the foundry. In 2014 English Heritage provided an emergency repair grant and in 2020 the Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust secured a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund alongside additional donations, funds and grants, saving the bellfoundry from closure. Today John Taylor & Co still operates as a working foundry and the Trust preserves the historic buildings, archives and museum collections - allowing visitors to engage with this remarkable site and safe guarding its history for future generations.