The Oldest Clock
Salisbury Clock, Cathedral and Regimental Flags
Salisbury Cathedral has been a place of worship, welcome, and hospitality for over 800 years. Its Spire (the tallest in the country and a feat of medieval engineering) rises to a breath-taking 404ft/123m, guiding travellers, merchants, and pilgrims to the historic city.
The story of this great Cathedral is a tale of defiance and ingenuity that begins back in 1218, when the Bishop of Salisbury abandoned the original cathedral at Old Sarum, and moved down to the banks of the Avon, where the Cathedral stands today. You can learn the reasons for this move and about the people who made it happen by following the new family-friendly trail inside the Cathedral.
You can also discover how one of only four surviving original 1215 Magna Carta came to the Cathedral and view it in a special exhibition explaining its origins and continuing relevance to our lives today.
Time in the Cathedral is marked by the tick of the oldest working mechanical clock in the world, accompanied by the sound of water trickling from the contemporary baptismal font.
It is thought to date from 1386, or possibly earlier, and is made of hand-wrought iron. Three horologists – Johannes and Williemus Vriemand and Johannes Jietuijt of Delft - are thought to be behind the design and build.
As is usual of the period, the clock has no face and was designed only to strike hours. It is separated into two sections, the right-hand one being known as Going Train and the left-hand one as Striking Train. Each is driven by falling weights which have to be wound up once a day.
It originally stood in a detached bell tower (near where the Bell Tower Tea Rooms are today) but when that was demolished in 1884, a new clock was installed and the discarded one left to deteriorate. It was rediscovered in 1929, when it was restored and put on public display in the main aisle.
It wasn’t until 1956 though that the clock was restored to its original condition and set up in its current position, in the left naïve of the cathedral, where it is still working away, much as it did over 600 years ago.
Source:
https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/
https://www.experiencesalisbury.co.uk/salisbury-blog/2021/june/the-worlds-oldest-working-clock/