Village Coronation Clock

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 November 1911, Page 4

Village Coronation Clock

A Coronation memorial was dedicated at tilio parish dhurch of Wootton Eivcvs, near Mfirlborougjh, Wiltshire, recently, and the memorial is a remarkable pi'oof of tibe ingenuity of tJhe villagers (says the- London Standard). TliWo were/: not sufficient funds to pay for a. public clock such as was. designed by the people of the village, but Mr Spratt, who began life on a farm, and wiho is self-taught, offered to make a clock, free of charge, if he could get some one to do the iheavier work, and if tlio villagers would bring him all the old iron, lead, steel, and brass available in the village with which to make the more delicate parts. The villagers entered into the spirit of the project with zest, and Mr 'Spratt's cottage was soon the scene of a collection of heterogeneous articles—parts of agricultural machinery, bicycles, perambulators, bedsteads, fireirons, brass weights, and other odds and ends. The two greait wheels of the clock were taken from disused separators, while the hammer, which strikes the hours on the largest bell of a peal of five, h a governor ball taken from a steam engine. The three dials {ire made of iron, enamelled, with a. while background, and black figures and haiiids. On one dial is the inscription: "Glory be to God," instead of the usual Itaman unmerals.