Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell

The Church Clock

In common with many churches, Rothwell's church clock has been ticking away year in year out, informing the residents of Rothwell of the time. It has one large face which overlooks Squires Hill to the west. As most of the town is unable to see this, being on the eastern side of the church, it is equipped with Wesminster chimes, which announce the hours and quarters in the same way as Big Ben at the Houses of Parliament in London. The chimes are struck on the same bells that are used for ringing, so we have to make sure the bells that are used for the clock are "down" at the end of each ringing session.

Most people don't realise that what you can see from Squires Hill - the clock face - is actually only a very small part of the story. The face and hands are very big, and in the days of weight-driven clocks it was totally impossible to place the clock mechanism behind the face, as with the clock on your mantlepiece! So, as the clock also needs enough horsepower to drive the chimes (the hammers that strike the bells are as large as an average sledgehammer!), it has to be quite big. Also, as the weights need to be very heavy and need a long "fall" to avoid winding every day, the usual place for the clock is within the ringing chamber. Rothwell is no exception here. Our clock resides in a large wooden cupboard in the ringing chamber. This is great for the clock, but not so great for the ringers, who are deprived of much needed space in the ringing chamber. In this sense however, Rothwell isn't too badly off, as the ringing chamber is very big, so the clock doesn't take up too much room. Some situations are much worse however. In one church not too far from Rothwell, the clock case is so big that ringers of two of the bells have to stand on boxes to see each other over the top of the clock!

Whilst our church clock has been reliably tick-tocking away over the years, there is one major drawback with it that few people stop to consider. If they do, they find it hard to believe in this high-tech age. The clock is still hand-wound, and needs to be wound twice per week! There are three drums on the clock, one for the time (the easy one), one for the striking of the hours (much heavier), and one for the quarter chimes. (much heavier still!) After climbing the stairs to the ringing chamber, it is a measure of physical fitness, grim determination or sheer stupidity if you can wind all three drums without stopping! Few of us can! Rothwell has been very lucky indeed over the years, as there has always been someone (usually one of the ringers) to undertake the task of winding. Although most of the ringers who are physically able to do so are happy to wind the clock on an ad-hoc basis, concern was rising that there was a real chance that the clock would stop when the current clockwinder - our Tower Captain, Murray Coleman - could no longer carry on with this work. Other difficulties were beginning to raise their heads as well. The clock must be professionally maintained in order to comply with insurance requirements, and this costs money. Also, as clocks of this type are no longer manufactured, any spare parts must be specially made. This again is costly, and could lead to the clock being inactive whilst a spare part is made.

So, in 2003 a decision was made. The church was very fortunate in that a legacy made it possible to address our concerns, so consideration was given to various ideas. The present clock was made by Messrs J Smith & Sons, in their Midland Clock Works in Derby. It was installed in Rothwell in 1906, and replaced a much older clock. Whilst being almost 100 years old, it is of no particular historic value. Many hundreds of this type of clock were made, and many are still in use all over the world. It is probably the nearest thing to "mass production" clock manufacture ever got. So, the question of how to improve things really boiled down to two options - convert the existing clock to auto-wind, or to replace it with a new modern electronic clock. Whilst the former option would undoubtedly extend the life of the existing clock, it still wouldn't overcome the ongoing problem of the cost of maintenance and repairs. A bold decision was made therefore, and it was decided to apply for a faculty to replace the current clock with a modern unit. The faculty was duly granted, and although disappointing us slightly in that the clock was to remain where it is "in a workable condition", at least we could go for a new clock, and address most of our concerns.

Quotations were invited, and a supplier was selected. The specification included the supply and fitting of a new clock, the re-gilding and refurbishment of the clock face, and the supply and fitting of a completely new chiming apparatus. Work went ahead, and the whole project was completed by the end of the summer of 2003.

The new clock itself is a small wall mounted box connected by a cable to the clock face and the chiming apparatus on the bells. Instead of the usual train of gears and cogwheels going over the top of the ringing chamber from the clock face to the clock, there is now a small motor behind the clock face connected via a cable to the clock. Similarly, the wires and pulleys from the clock to the chiming hammers on the bells have gone. The hammers are now electrically operated from the clock. The clock is maintained to precisely the right time by picking up the radio signals from the Rugby time source. This also automatically corrects the clock at the beginning and end of British Summer Time, and puts the clock right following any mains supply failures.

We now have a modern clock which takes advantage of all the benefits of modern technology. It keeps precisely the right time, needs no maintenance, winding, oiling, or periodic replacement of weight cables. Timekeeping at Rothwell has moved into the 21st century!