St Mary’s Church - Restoration of Church Tower Clock
Weathering caused by lichen growth, and years of blown sea salt have taken their toll on the Church clock and the time was reached when restoration was necessary.
The dial and hands of the clock were removed, mended, re-painted and re-gilded. The workings of the 18th Century Clock were also cleaned and serviced.
The project was carried out by Jim Thompson, a specialist Turret Clock Engineer from the Hampshire Turret Clocks Ltd.
This work was made possible thanks to a generous anonymous donation and a legacy from the late Mary Ward who lived in a cottage facing the church for very many years. The Rector and the Church Council are immensely grateful for these and all gifts and legacies which make projects such as this possible.
The clock was made in 1788 and was originally installed at Christ’s Hospital, a school in London It was brought to Burton Bradstock in 1902 when the school moved to Horsham in Sussex. It has been keeping the time in the village ever since. A statement recording this move is painted on the inner face of the dial saying that it was placed on Burton Bradstock Church in memory of Queen Victoria.
The clock strikes on each quarter hour with a “Ting Tang” once at quarter past, twice at half past and three times at quarter to the hour. Originally it also struck four times before striking the hour. This was stopped on the instructions of the Headmaster of Christ’s Hospital because the pupils started to leave their classes before the hour marking the end of their studies struck. This pattern of striking remains the same to this day.
The removal of the dial and hands was witnessed by children from the village school.
Everything is now restored and the clock continues to keep good time.
March 2016
Further information on the history of the clock can be found here under 18th Century
For further information contact: Peter Broomhead