© St Michael’s Bell Ringers
Church Clock
St Michael’s Turret Clock and Viennese 8-Day Clock
St Michael’s turret clock was made by Benjamin
Louis Vulliamy [1780-1854], whose father, also
Benjamin, was clockmaker to King George III.
Justin Vulliamy, born in Switzerland in 1712
started a family dynasty of highly renowned
clock makers which earned the appointment as
Clockmaker to the Crown in 1742 and which
they retained for 112 years.
The turret clock itself is unusual in that it has a
second hand on the movement. The striking
hammers and linkages were removed in 1938
when the bells were re-hung in a modern steel
frame. However the striking mechanism is still in
place within the clock and the majority of the
extraneous mechanics still exist, including the
massive striking train drive weight. There are
clock faces on both the north and south faces of
the tower.
The clock in mounted in the Ringing Chamber on
a mezzanine built specifically for the clock to
provide sufficient height for the pendulum to
move without protrusion into the main church space below. The clock is still wound by hand every
week by the ringers. It requires exactly 28 turns of the winding handle and that is sufficient for 7
days, exactly.
The presentation plate on the clock reads:
This Clock was Presented to
Basingstoke Church
By the
Rev James Blatch BD Vicar
AD :1843
In the Thirtieth Year
of his Incumbency
—--------------
Made by
B L Vulliamy
FRAS FRGS London
Clockmaker to their Late Majesties
KING GEORGE the 3rd & 4th.
William The 4th & to her
Present Majesty
—------------------
No 1616 AD 1843
The Ringing Chamber also has a Viennese 8 day regulator clock of unknown manufacture which is in
perfect working order but its case, finished in black, is in rather poor condition with the upper finial
structure missing.