The Bell & Clock...
The Bell
In 1707 – Abraham Rudhall cast 4 bells for St Peters Church (where Topshop is now), where they hung until 1830.
In 1830 they replaced their bells and sold one to St Johns Church.
It is inscripted – ‘God save the Church and Queen, A.R.1707’
It is 38 inches in height and 351/2 at the top and is seven hundredweight in weight.
There was a legend in the village that this bell was cast from a cannon taken from the Dutch, and that the beauty and richness of its tone is due to the amount of silver in its composition. This bell must have rung in St. Peter's Tower for the victories of the Battle of the Nile, Trafalgar and Waterloo. It has summoned Christian folk to the worship of the Lord for nearly 300 years.
Our Condliff Clock
The clock situated in the tower is an excellent and very important example of James Condliff of Liverpool and is dated 1836.
James Condliff set up at 32 Gerrard Street, Liverpool in 1816 and his business went on to become one of the most successful in the country, known in particular for his superb regulators and skeleton clocks. The Condliff family was made up of James, Joseph, John and Thomas, and appears to run from 1816 to the 1940’s.
The clock consists of a double-framed hour striking clock movement driving three stone dials with glazed centres.
The clock movement is fitted with a lateral toothed deadbeat escarpment and a very unique and clever rack controlled hour strike. Condliff who always used countwheel control was experimenting with rack striking, and combined some of the elements of countwheel controlled striking with rack controlled striking.
This is the only example of this design of hour striking fitted not only to a Condliff turret clock, but also to any turret clock in the country. It is therefore very important that it is conserved and brought back into working order.
It is suggested that the clock movement could be brought down into the room below from where it is currently situated making access much easier and therefore more accessible for people to view and appreciate. The bell cranks could be re-positioned and longer pull wires fitted so that the clock movement will be able to operate the bell hammer, as it was originally designed to do. Automatic winding and regulation could be incorporated.
Some of the damage/neglect is
If you would like to make a donation, please contact the vicar Rev. Roy Doran, or the Church Wardens.
James Condliff set up at 32 Gerrard Street, Liverpool in 1816 and his business went on to become one of the most successful in the country, known in particular for his superb regulators and skeleton clocks. The Condliff family was made up of James, Joseph, John and Thomas, and appears to run from 1816 to the 1940’s.
The clock consists of a double-framed hour striking clock movement driving three stone dials with glazed centres.
The clock movement is fitted with a lateral toothed deadbeat escarpment and a very unique and clever rack controlled hour strike. Condliff who always used countwheel control was experimenting with rack striking, and combined some of the elements of countwheel controlled striking with rack controlled striking.
This is the only example of this design of hour striking fitted not only to a Condliff turret clock, but also to any turret clock in the country. It is therefore very important that it is conserved and brought back into working order.
It is suggested that the clock movement could be brought down into the room below from where it is currently situated making access much easier and therefore more accessible for people to view and appreciate. The bell cranks could be re-positioned and longer pull wires fitted so that the clock movement will be able to operate the bell hammer, as it was originally designed to do. Automatic winding and regulation could be incorporated.
Some of the damage/neglect is
- Poor condition of paintwork and lacquer on the brass work.
- Unprotected ironwork is corroding
- The pendulum rod is broken
- Dirty bevel gearing and dial motions.
- Glass panels in the centre of the dials need to be renewed or replaced.
If you would like to make a donation, please contact the vicar Rev. Roy Doran, or the Church Wardens.
Some information was taken from the book 'Knotty Ash' by Gordon Radley. Edited by S. Thorpe and R. Southern
Information regarding the clock provided by the Cumbria Clock Company.
Information regarding the clock provided by the Cumbria Clock Company.