*Location:

   Swiss Court
   Leicester Square
   Westminster,
     London, W.1, England
   OS Ref. TQ 298 808
   LL: N 51.51051, W 0.13115

   1985-2008 Swiss Centre façade
   2008-2011 (in storage)

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page (County is wrong; other data are correct.)

*Player:

   (unknown)

*Contact:

   Switzerland Tourism
   30 Bedford Street
   London  WC2E 9ED
   T: 020/7420 4900
   E: info.uk@myswitzerland.com

*Schedule:

   Bells & animated figures, automatic,
   weekends at 2,3,4 pm
   (was Mon-Fri noon, 5,6,7,8pm;
   Sat-Sun noon, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8pm)

*Remarks:

   Glockenspiel with clock; often
   described as 23 bells representing 23
   Swiss cantons and 23 London wards,
   but actually more.
   2006: Building was sold and will be
   demolished, but the glockenspiel is
   to be retained in the replacement
   building.
   Oct.2011: Bells refurbished by Rüetschi
   and reinstalled in a freestanding
   tower by Smiths of Derby.

*Technical data:

   Electric-keyboard carillon of 27 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is C  in the treble octave
   Keyboard range:     C E   /    ----  
   Transposition is up one octave
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The whole instrument was installed in 1985
     with bells made by Rüetschi          
   Auxiliary mechanisms: EHQ   
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 1988

Video (5:56) of the glockenspiel in operation

Video of the history and rededication

News article (2 Nov 2005) on the history of the Swiss Centre glockenspiel; includes current photos plus a video that shows both the present tower and the previous location on the demolished Swiss Centre building

News article on restoration and dedication, with before-and-after photos

News article, with clickable photo of the glockenspiel (two clicks needed to get the slightly larger version)

News article on the combining of a historic clock with these historic bells

Article which provides the original text for some of the above articles, with a different photo of the tower and bells, plus a video.  But the link for a downloadable copy of the press release doesn't work.

Stock photo of Leicester Square Swiss tourist office (original location)

Stock photo as relocated, still in Leicester Square

Another view

View of the whole clock-post

Night view, illuminated

News article with building photo

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Rüetschi bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all British Isles non-traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all British Isles non-traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all British Isles non-traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in England.

   This page was built from the database on 10-Mar-26
   based on textual data last updated on 2026/03/01
   and on technical data last updated on 2007/11/01