Which London foundry cast the bell now known as the Liberty Bell?

The Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the bell now known as the Liberty Bell.

The Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly commissioned the bell in 1751, and it was cast in London in 1752 by Lester and Pack, a firm later renamed the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The bell was intended for the Pennsylvania State House, now called Independence Hall, in Philadelphia.

The bell cracked on its first test ringing after arriving in Philadelphia. Local founders John Pass and John Stow recast it twice, and their names appear on the bell. Its inscription comes from Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.”

The name Liberty Bell became popular in the nineteenth century, especially among abolitionist groups. It is associated with independence, although no contemporary evidence proves that it rang when the Declaration of Independence was publicly read on July 8, 1776.