The Swan Bells are a set of 18 bells hanging in a specially built 82.5 metres -high copper and glass campanile, commonly known as The Bell Tower or the Swan Bell Tower, in Perth, Western Australia, Australia. Taking their name from the Swan River, which their tower overlooks, and forming a sixteen-bell peal with two extra chromatic notes, they are one of the largest sets of change ringing bells in the world.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 which were presented to the University of Western Australia, the City of Perth and to the people of Western Australia from 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.An inlaid path made of ceramic tiles surrounds the tower. These come from nearly every school in Western Australia and are arranged alphabetically by school name. Each school's tile lists students at that school in the year of 1999. Each child has written his or her name as a contribution to the Swan Bells.The site is now a tourist attraction for the City; since its opening on 10 December 2000, 1 million people have visited.
