TURRET CLOCK
Gillett & Company of Croydon 1888
The church clock was manufactured by Gillett & Company of Croydon and is dated 1888. The movement is installed in the floor above the Ringing Chamber immediately below the six bells. Centrally mounted in the church spire, it is supported on a substantial wooden A-type frame. The movement is protected by a close fitting wooden cabinet with glass viewing panels front and rear.
The clock has two dials, one facing south and the other facing west. The hours are represented in roman numerals. A large pendulum supported on a flat spring regulates the movement. Temperature and humidity affect the speed of the pendulum and this may be adjusted by altering the length of the pendulum arm. Moving the pendulum weight makes coarse adjustments and adding or removing washers from the top of the pendulum weight makes small adjustments. Shortening the length of the arm by either moving the weight up or adding washers increases the movement speed. Increasing the length of the arm by either moving the weight down or removing washers will reduce the movement speed.
There are two large weights running in a cabinet in the southwest corner of the tower.
The clock has a seven-day movement that is hand-wound each week. It takes about 33 turns of the cranked handle to wind the clock weight and 180 turns to wind the strike weight. The clock hammer strikes the tenor bell every hour. This hammer is fixed into a safe position during bell ringing to prevent operation of the hammer when the tenor bell is moving.
