When John Scott first apprenticed at his uncle’s bell installation and repair company in the 1980s, he quickly learned to get comfortable with
the stillness of high rafters — and more than a few territorial pigeons.
Scott is now the owner of Scotiabell, which dates back to 1922 as the C. Arthur Scott Company. After taking over from his uncle two decades ago, he renamed it after his father’s property Scotia Belle, “Beautiful Scotland.”
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The Hamilton-based business, which also specializes in tower clocks, used to be primarily focused on cast bells. These heavy metal bells range from a few inches to several feet in diameter, with the largest weighing multiple tonnes.
Cast bells “are still considered luxuries rather than necessities for churches,” Scott says. The bell towers that house the instruments are expensive to build and mostly found in heritage church buildings. Roman Catholic, United and Anglican churches tend to be frequent customers.
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Like Rapunzel, traditional cast bells are hidden atop a tower with their ropes hanging down at ground level. “We get many calls saying, ‘The rope broke,’ but if everything’s working great, the rope shouldn’t be breaking,” says Scott, who has discovered bird infestations and other preventable deteriorations during repairs.
While requests for new cast bells are rare today, Scotiabell now offers synthesized digital options. Scott says digital bells can play up to 128 different volume levels on each bell tone and sound incredibly realistic. “The bell industry is slow to change, but when it does, it does a great leap forward.”
Before Scott took over the business, his uncle was looking for three qualities in his successor: musical, mechanical and electrical knowledge. But Scott insists patience is key. “Sometimes it’s like watching paint dry,” he says, recalling how his uncle advised him to observe a bell for 15 minutes before starting any work.
As Scott now looks toward his own retirement, he’s searching for a person who can carry the family torch — and face those pesky pigeons.
***
Ghazal Azizi is a writer and fact-checker in Montreal.
This article first appeared in Broadview’s July/August 2026 issue with the title “A Family Business That Resonates.”
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