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The Swan Bells are a set of 18 hanging in a specially built copper and glass bell tower in Perth, Western Australia. The tower is commonly known as The Bell Tower or the Swan Bell Tower. Swan Bell Tower – www.LookAtWA.com.au. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
Taking their name from the Swan River, which their tower overlooks, and forming a sixteen-bell peal with two extra chromatic scale notes, they are the second largest set of change ringing bells in the world, the largest being Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, which has 19 bells.
Twelve of the set are historic bells from St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square in London; six others, cast in recent times by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, round off the set. The St Martin-in-the-Fields bells were donated to the State of Western Australia as part of the 1988 Australian bicentenary celebrations; the additional bells were cast with a subsequent donation of metals mined in Western Australia. The six newer bells include five that were presented to the University of Western Australia, the City of Perth and to the people of Western Australia by the City of London, the City of Westminster and a consortium of British and Australian mining companies, and one bell commissioned by the Western Australian Government.
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Soundproof louvres and doors are used to muffle the sound or direct the noise towards the city or the river as required. The glass-clad spire is designed using spokes that radiate horizontally from a centrally positioned axle, declining in width as it rises to a point. The solid-steel columns of the spire are rectangular and the concrete bell chamber is enveloped in copper sails and glass.
The redeveloped Barrack Square along Barrack Street precinct, which surrounds the tower, includes reflection pools as well as cafes, restaurants, shops and cycling and walking paths.
An inlaid path made of ceramic tiles initially surrounded the tower, with each tile consisting of a list of some of the youngest and oldest cohorts of students from nearly every school in Western Australia from 1999, arranged alphabetically by school name. , the tiles were removed as part of the Elizabeth Quay project, but have since been reinstalled in a new artwork to the east of the tower.
In 2018, to commemorate the centenary of the World War One armistice on 11 November, a large bell was cast by VEEM Limited, Canning Vale. Unlike the other bells in the tower, this is swung electronically using a motor, supplied by a Belgian firm. It is known as the Great ANZAC Bell.
Since 2013 the area around Barrack Street Jetty has undergone redevelopment; this included removal of part of the reflecting pool and creation of a boardwalk in front of the Bell Tower. The work is part of a larger foreshore project that also incorporates the Elizabeth Quay development.
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