Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-12-25
SOME CHuRCH CL0CKS.
Musical Tunes, Once Heard Never For.
gotten.

gotten.
We have, however, some masterpieces
upon which we may, nevertheless. plume
ourselves. Those who have heard Great
Peter of York announce that midnight has
come are not likely to forget the deep and
thrilling resonance that fills the air and
booms over the silent city. This bell weighs
twelve tons and half and cost GO, 900. It
was second to none in this Kingdom till
Big Ben was set up at Westminster to stand
sentinel-like over the mighty Thames.
Great Tom o. Lincoln is another bell of
great reputation. 1t was recast in 1885,
and on its return from Whitechapel
foundry it was welcomed home by pro-
cession of clergy, gentry and citizens, with
banners flying and bands playing, at the
south entrance to the city. It is six feet
high and nearly seven feet in diameter, and
weighs five tons and eight cwt. Its tone is
also of an extraordinary fullness richness
and sweetness, especially when heard in
the dead of the night. And in the north
transept Of Wells Cathedral there is clock
in which there is sufficient eccentric mech
anism to enable a small figure of man to
step forward periodically and proclaim the
time.
1t must be allowed that church clocks in
country towns are very considerable addi-
, tons to the general convenience of the in
habitants. Some of them set up in the
seventeenth century are furnished with
curious devices, which have gradually got
out of order, as in the case of the Church Of
ST. Martin lie Grand, York, which had the
| figure of naval officer on the top of it in
| the act of taking q solar observation, who
used 10 move and follow the course of the
sun. Most of them are attached to the
bells and chime the hours. Stamford,
which we may almost look upon as leg
acy from Queen Elizabeth's Lord Burleigh,
| is rich in the matter of church clocks, and
over all the EliZabethan houses with their
| bay windows and dGrmerS, and sunny gar
dens full of pear trees and bees, and over
the wide river and low-lying meadows by
| the side of it, passes a wave of silgery sound
every quarter of an hour that is delightful
to hear. On Ellington Church, in the same
neighborhood, the clock face has the SEM
blance of hatchment. This church has a
somewhat remarkable appearance other
wise, also on account of its long lengths OF
embattled parapets and low roofs. The
tower is capped with a very crocketed octa-
gonal spire, with flying buttresses, and on
the string course of the third stage is fixed
the dial in question.
Further north, about seven miles out Of
Newcastle, is the pleasant village of Ponte
land. Situated beyond the influence o.
the smoke of the numerous works along
the Tyne, it is very green and leafy. The
chief hosiery is an addition to an old forti
fed tower, with archways, mullioned-win
dows and turrets, and is fair specimen o
ancient border architecture. The vicarag,
house stands in well-wooded grounds
where there are the remains of anothe
pole tower. The church is on large scale
and has a tower, like many others in thi
contested part of the country, that coulC
afford protection to many refugees wher
occasion required it to do So Within thi
valiant old tower is clock, and on the fac
of large dial, six feet across, it shows tn
time OF day, like an admonition to all VIII
care to look up to it. The greater humble
of small churches in rural districts, how
ever, have to content themselves will
mural sun-dials. These are general,
placed on the porch, and are often en-
riched with motto setting forth the fleet
ness of time. In old times, it may b
added, sun dials were more in request thar
they are in the present day. We leari
from an inquiry made in the reign of Loui
TX. that they were placed in the highway
of France in the thirteenth century-Tb
! ()l1rer