Clock Work

August 2024

Dear Friends

Do you ever wonder what powers the clock on the church tower?  Some clocks with hands and faces of great age are actually driven by recently installed electric motors, but not the Burton church clock!  The mechanical movement proudly displays its maker’s inscription: ‘John Smith and Sons, Midland Clock Works, Derby, 1912’.  There is no electricity involved (except for the light bulb in the room!) 

Every week, one of the volunteer clock winders from our village climbs the steep stairs to the first floor ringing chamber where the clock movement ticks in time with the swinging of the heavy cast iron pendulum bob.  They then get a good workout as they turn the handles that  wind the cables onto the drums and haul up the two heavy cast iron weights to the floor above.  Over the course of the week these weights slowly descend nearly 30 feet back to the ground floor powering the ‘going’ mechanism that drives the hands and the chiming mechanism.  On the hour, every hour, it is this second mechanism that springs into action pulling on a cable that passes through holes in the floors to the top of the tower to strike a hammer against the largest of the bells to sound out the hour.

The clock keeps remarkably good time but, being over 100 years old, it is not surprising that she will sometimes lose a few minutes or get confused as to which hour she should be chiming.  On a still night with the bedroom window open I can clearly hear the chiming from our home in Glebe Close and I imagine that is true for a good number of houses in our village.  Of course, we’re surrounded by devices that tell the time and no longer need a church clock but I hope you agree that this kind of mechanical masterpiece ought to be kept going for as long as possible.  Thank you to all the current clock winders for your willing service: David Johnston, Richard Evans, John Page, Paul and Mary Bullimore.

“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’  My times are in your hands” (Psalm 31:14-15)

Sincerely

Graham Burrows

Picture: The clock face in 2016 – repainted and regilded before being reinstalled on the east wall of the restored tower.