All Saints Clifton - A Short History of the Clock and Carillon

Although the present clock dates from Victorian times there has been a clock in the tower for over 300 years. fortunately, both the clock and the carillon machine installed in 1869 are very well documented.

It is not known exactly when the clock was first installed. There is no mention of it in the earliest surviving Churchwardens' accounts which span 1589 to 1608. However in 1668 it was reported to the Archdeacon that "... the clocke wants mending in the wheeles". So begins a long history of maintenance and repair which from 1710 is recorded in detail in the parish accounts.

Thoughout the first half of the eighteenth century the clockwinder was paid an annual salary of £1 6s 8d (£1.33). This task was usually carried out by the Sexton or the Parish clerk. In 1710, "oulde hogge" was paid "for looking after ye clocke", and later in 1783 when the salary had been increased to £2 the records show a payment "to the Clerk for Winding up Clock".

Winding was not the only expense. The clock required regular cleaning and servicing and this involved many of the leading local clockmakers of the time. Thomas Faldo of Shefford looked after the clock until his death in 1729. Besides paying him a salary of 17s 6d (75p) the parish also paid for his "meat and drink" at each visit. Later clockmakers who worked on the clock included Joseph Overall and William Triston of Shefford, John Underwood, and the Peppers of Biggleswade whose family firm spanned 5 generations and had the care of Clifton clock at various times between 1734 and 1863. By this time time the annual outlay for maintenance had reached £4 - a considerable sum at the time.

Little is known of the original clock. A church inventory of 1822 records that it required winding once a week and that it had "...two faces or dials, one being towards the East and the other towards the South." Curiously these dial are not shown in contempory illustrations of the church.

The church was restored in 1862-3 at the sole expense of Henry Miles Esq. of Downfield Herefordshire, the Patron of the living and father of the then Rector, the Reverend Henry Hugh Miles. At this time a new clock was installed initially with an hour strike only. The movement is dated 1863 and it was made by John Moore and Sons of Clerkenwell. It is of a type known as a cast iron 4 poster, with three trains deadbeat escapement and rack striking. One dial was renewed but the one on the east face of the tower was not refitted as the Nave restoration had increased the height of the roof.

Four years after the completion of the restoration the Rector turned his attention to the bells. In 1867 he had a cracked bell recast and added a smaller treble bell to complete a ring of six. He also paid for 4 extra non swinging bells to be hung above the peal of six which were to be used for the Cambridge Quarter chimes on the clock. The bells were cast by Robert Stainbank of Whitechapel. The clock was modified by its original makers and the new chimes were brought into use early in 1868.

Reverend Miles had not finished there. The death of his father who had so generously restored the church provided the family with an opportunity to erect a memorial at Clifton and this took the form of further additions to the belfry. Five more bells were added bringing the total to 15 along with a carillon machine to play tunes. Their gift is commemorated on a brass tablet in the church, and one of the bells carries a Latin inscription in memory of Henry Miles, "the best and dearest of fathers".

It would seem that Miles was not a man to seek publicity and the new carillon and bells appears to have gone unreported in the local press. As a result of this some queries remain unanswered. It appears that the original machine was supplied by Gillett and Bland of Croydon. It had 2 barrels each with 7 tunes giving a fortnightly repertiore of 14 tunes. Tuned to the key of G with 2 half tone bells an octave apart, the bells ranged from the Tenor bell of the ringing peal which was G to the smallest chime bell striking E in the octave above. However according to one account only the 10 smallest bells were used whereas another - probably more reliable states that the chimes made use of all 15 bells.

By 1881 the chimes had fallen into disrepair and towards the end of the nineteenth century a new machine was installed - presumably at the expense of the Reverend H H Miles. This machine (the one in use today) was made by the same John Moore and Sons who provided the clock but its exact date of installation is not recorded. Although fitted with 15 hammers this machine is less versatile than its predecessor using only 11 of the bells for just 4 tunes. When the bells were restored in 1953 their number was reduced to 11 the other 4 having been made redundant. At this time 3 new chime bells replaced the originals of 1867-9.

The chimes are activated by the clock and can be heard daily at 8am, 12 noon, 4pm and 8pm. The 4 tunes listed on the mechanism are:

"Rising of the Lark"

Forme nos coeurs

Gavotte (Bach)

Pilgrims of the Night

However these were replaced with new tunes composed in 1961. To todays generation these tunes sound unfamiliar but the sound of the bells at regular intervals thoughout the day has become part of Clifton village life.

The clock then is one of the oldest of Clifton's amenities having been carefully maintained by the parishioners over many generations. The carillon, the only one of its type in the county still in working order, gives a daily reminder of the generosity of the Reverend Miles and his family who did so much for Clifton and its people.