It’s About Time: Once Village Centerpieces, These Historical Church Clocks Ring Again
“Stands the church clock at ten to three
And is there honey still for tea?”
Rupert Brooke wrote in 1912, recalling his home in Grantchester, Cambridge.
Such church clocks have long been an iconic part of United Kingdom life, perched high on church towers, visible across the countryside. Over time, many have fallen into disuse or broken.
Three ancient clocks in Montacute, Somerset and in Winchester, Hampshire, have been returned to full working order — and their restoration projects turned up some unexpected discoveries.
Until recently, it was believed that the clock on the tower of St. Catherine’s Church in Montacute, a village nearly three hours away drive from London, had been constructed in the seventeenth century. In reality, it was actually much older. Restoration this year has revealed that the mechanism dates back to the 1400s, making it one of the oldest striking clocks in the U.K.
Restoration experts completely overhauled and strengthened the mechanisms, repainted them, and added traditional blue and gold finishes. The local school prepared a time capsule and placed it behind the clock for future generations to discover — although that is likely to be well in the future, as the restorers said the fixed clock should still be running 200 or 400 years from now
Located 15 meters (50 feet) above the ground on the church tower, the clock room now contains cameras showing the inner workings of the clock. Audiovisual displays tell the clock’s story, including the huge iron door keys dating from the Reformation used by villagers responsible for winding the clock each day.
Winchester clocks ring with community pride
For over a century, the clock on the turret of the church of St. John the Baptist in Winchester has been silent. Now it has been brought back to life, although it remains too fragile to be located in its original location.
One of the U.K.’s oldest church clocks, it first struck time in 1559 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and its installation reflected the wealth of the church as it cost £13 and 9 shillings – the equivalent of £2,751 ($3,654) in modern currency. Edward Churcher was paid 4 shillings to wind it up three times a day.
Keith Scobie-Youngs, director of the Cumbria Clock Company, responsible for the restoration, said “more than 60% of it is the original sixteenth-century clock. It has a unique system of winding that I have never seen before, and I have been making and repairing turret clocks all my life.”
What made this clock so unusual is the fact that no nuts and bolts were used in its construction, and the wrought iron frame is held together with wedges. There are two separate mechanisms working the clock. These are known as “trains,” one drives the time-keeping parts while the other is the ‘striking train’ used to sound the fourteenth-century bell.
The clock has now been returned to St. John the Baptist, but will be kept in the nave of the church and operated only occasionally due to its fragility.
Also in Winchester, the cathedral clock required restoration. First installed in 1777, it was the work of London-based clockmakers Aynsworth Thwaites, while the cathedral blacksmith was involved in the installation.
An accounts book from the time indicates that a Mr. Early was paid £7,913 shillings for the new clock. At modern prices, this would have been worth around £16,000 ($21,255). Restoration involved a general overhaul as well as washing and repainting the face in brilliant blue and gold leaf, which was undertaken by cathedral staff abseiling down the tower!
The presence of clocks on church towers reflected their importance in community life. Most churches had a clock. Clock time determined the pace of life, when to attend services, go to or return from work.
At Winchester Cathedral, the clock was only visible from the south side of the tower, facing the cathedral close rather than the city itself. The reason behind this is thought to reflect a decision to avoid reminding most workers how many hours they had worked, while those in the Cathedral Close would need to know service times.
Most churches only had one clock, but it wasn’t uncommon for some to have two or three faces. According to folklore, such clocks might have one face with the right time, the other with the wrong time in order to confuse the devil over church times!
Unusual designs were also often added to the clock face. At St. Mary’s church, Furneaux Pelham, the church clock is topped by an image of Old Father Time and the words “Time Flies, Mind your Business.”
Elsewhere at Sheering, there are two clock faces, both installed in the 1940s as a memorial to those who served in World War II. The north-facing clock says “Work and Pray,” while the west-facing clock states “Today is Yours.”
Identifying why clocks have become so much a part of church life over the centuries links into the culture and heritage of local communities.
Nic Laycock, Churchwarden at St. Catherine’s, said the clocks are “a matter of pride.”
“If it could talk, it would recount the history of the church’s witness to the village from medieval times to the present day,” Laycock added. “It connects generations, past, present and future. Our clock is a symbol of Jesus’s story being told for the village and its many visitors.”
Angela Youngman is a freelance journalist who has written for a wide range of British and international publications.