In our regular series on monuments around Newham, Julia Omari finds a 400-year tradition alive and well in Olympic Park…. but quietly.

Two sticks and an apple, Ring the bells of Whitechapel” are the original opening lines of the famous Oranges and Lemons song. The nursery rhyme that dates back to 1655 shares the locations of some of London’s great bells and the activities that took place in each bell’s surrounding area.

The bells of Whitechapel gave reference to the historic Whitechapel Bell Foundry (WBF) whose bell making business is said to have opened during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and remained fully operational until its recent closure in June 2017, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. This marked it as the oldest manufacturing company in Britain.

Many world famous bells were designed, cast and/ or re-cast by WBF including Big Ben, the Liberty Bell, which celebrates the American Revolution and sits in Philadelphia, and the Great Bell of Bow, which confers cockney status on anyone born within the sound of it.

In 2012 Newham received our own great bell, the Olympic Bell. It sits silently within the Olympic Park as there was some concern from local residents that to ring it would create noise pollution. What the bell lacks in voice it makes up for in size, as it is currently the largest bell in Europe, the second heaviest bell in Europe and the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world. Made with bronze bell metal, the 2 metre high, 3 metre wide, 23 tonnes Olympic Monument caused some controversy; while it was designed by the WBF and carries their coat of arms the bell was actually cast overseas.

I wonder if the old nursery rhyme now needs updating to include the Olympic Bell, and if so what the additional lyrics should be?

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.