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The Clock at St Barnabas
The clock in St Barnabas tower was given to the church by Mrs Elizabeth Hadley in memory of her husband James Hadley who died in 1891. The clock incorporates “Westminster” chiming, which requires a complete musical octave of eight bells. At the time (1904) the tower only housed six bells, so Mrs Hadley also donated the two extra bells to St Barnabas as well as the clock.
When the church bells were restored in 1996/1997 the clock was also given an overhaul and fitted with an electrically powered winding mechanism which did away with the need for the weekly winding by hand.
Until very recently the clock was looked after by three generations of the Vickers family. Today it is cared for by Neville Peerman and is wound by electricity.
This is how Neville Peerman used to hand wind the clock.
In your home you may well have a clock similar to the one in St Barnabas bell tower but yours will be much smaller. It may also play the ‘Westminster Chimes’ and will be hand wound but the church clock is so much bigger that it would only just fit on to a dining table and weighs so much that the table would probably collapse. The key to wind an ordinary clock would fit in your pocket but the church clock key is about 60 cm long and weighs several kilograms.
