The Clock & Bells
Keeping the Village on Time
Old but very accurate
The clock, built by S. Smith and Sons of Derby, runs for seven days. It strikes on the hour and has a pinwheel escapement giving excellent time keeping.
Two Dials
One dial faces South towards the Hall so that the owner could keep a check on the time, whilst a second dial, some 15 ft higher, faces East so the rest of the village may see it. It replaced a 17th century wooden clock made by John Watts of Stamford. That clock had a square dial mounted, vertical diagonal and facing the Hall. Shown in a print of 1792, it would have required daily winding which doubtless hastened its replacement.
Bells date from 1486
The tower supports three melodious bells in a steel frame from about 1900. The tenor weighs 0.5 ton and bears the inscription ‘Thomas Norris made mee 1664 H.G.H.B.’ The Norris family were bell founders in Stamford. The second bell, cast by John Danyell in 1486, bears the inscription ‘Nomen Magdalene (C) ampana gerit melodie’ and weighs 8 cwt.
Treble Bell Much Later.
John Taylor & Son of Loughborough cast the 6 cwt treble bell, in 1857.