The New Murrey and Blue blog

We take our church clocks for granted….

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St John’s Church, Boughton in Northamptonshire

We take it for granted when we hear church clocks sound the hour. They are part of life, accepted, welcomed. But these things have to be looked after, attended to and cherished, or we won’t hear them at all. St John’s Church at Boughton in Northamptonshire has such a clock in its 14th-century tower, and for the past 25 years it has been cared for by Walt Thompson, now 77. See here Northamptonshire church’s clock winder made redundant by tech – BBC News. Walt has been so dedicated to his task that he’s always been careful to book his holiday from Monday to Friday, so he is there to attend to the 19th-century clock at weekends. That, ladies and gentlemen, is dedication.

But now the tortuous spiral staircase up through the tower has become too much. It’s steep, the steps are worn and there isn’t a rail to hold on to. Walt confesses that he has only fallen down twice. 😬 Automation has come to the rescue, relieving Walt of much of the responsibility. He still hopes to check on the mechanism once a month, but for the rest of the time modern technology has the task.

Walt Thompson and his clock

I have only once ventured up a church tower, that of All Hallows in Gedling, Nottinghamshire. It was 1960, I was 15 and we’d finished our exams, so a “school treat” was a visit to the church, which was close to the school. Well, going up wasn’t too bad, but at the top the stonework seemed to be crumbling, and some wit said people had thrown themselves off. Going down was a nightmare. The slope of the worn steps tilt me forward, and I needed every thigh muscle in creation to manage the descent. My heart thundered, my mouth was dry, and I was terrified!

All Hallows church, Gedling, Nottinghamshire

My legs wobbled for a week afterward. Never again, I thought, and that’s exactly how it has been. I would need a fortune in bribes to get me up a church tower again, so Walt Thompson has my complete admiration for his 25 years of dedication.

But oh, how we do love to hear our church clocks….

Note: All the above photographs are from the link I’ve given, except All Hallows, Gedling, which I found at https://www.joinmychurch.com/churches/All-Hallows-Church-Gedling-Nottinghamshire-United-Kingdom/4363.

 

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  1. Cyuen G. Avatar
    Cyuen G.

    I went up a tower in Chartres Cathedral when I was a week away from being 4 years old. I remember my only concern was with how loud the bells were when I got up there. 😁

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  2. sighthound6 Avatar
    sighthound6

    Clocks only really came into England in the 14th century and at first were mainly in large religious buildings – Wells Cathedral has a wonderful surviving example. There were secular clocks too, like the one at Westminster, and nobles began to install them in castles. (I know of at least one 14th Century example.) I suspect these early clocks all needed a dedicated employee to look after them, and although labour was cheap, the clocks themselves would be a real luxury. It would be interesting to know exactly when they became ‘mainstream’.

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