The Humphrey Hamlin Clock

St Catherine’s church has discovered that it has what could be the oldest working clock in the country. It is thought to have been made around 1400.

The clock was recently restored in the spring of 2025, having previously been restored by local man Humphrey Hamlin in 1987. Humphrey is a retired engineer, not a clock restorer, but when the clock was in really poor shape and in need of major repairs  he stepped in to help as a retirement project and as a service to the village. There is quite a story around even this – a village meeting almost unanimously vetoed the Church Wardens of the day who proposed to scrap the clock! Humphrey dismantled and took the clock to his own workshop just 100m from the church – the very house where in 1815 George Baker had made and installed the dial (face) of the clock which is still on the church tower.when the railway came to Montacute and people needed more accurate time keeping than just an hourly bell. 

At that time, the clock was believed to be very old and possibly dating to the Reformation but its true historical significance was not known. It was only picked up when an overhaul became needed in 2023 and the PCC decided to investigate its antiquity and whether indeed it was worth keeping. A succession  of experts including Dr Jonathan Foyle when he was Diocese Buildings Advisor and including the DAC Clocks Advisor also including  the new Church Buildings Adviser, Mark Lidster, visited the church and examined the clock  Their various opinions led to the conclusion of the 1400 date – although we will never be sure because there is no written provenance. As such, the Montacute Clock is of high national heritage significance and a treasure to be preserved. It was in need of a good overhaul because it was keeping embarrassingly bad time and the face had lost its paint and stained the church tower wall.

Humphrey is now 93 years old. In 1986 he took over responsibility for the clock from Eric Rogers, who had wound the clock every day for 67 years. Apparently, Eric refused to go on holiday due to his responsibility for the clock and if he had a day out in West Bay would always ensure he got the bus back in time to wind the clock. Eric took over the responsibility of winding the clock in 1914 after promising his uncle William, who previously held the responsibility of winding the clock, to wind it every day while he went to fight in the Great War. Sadly, William never returned from the war.

Recently Nic was approached after a service by a David Rouse (great nephew of Eric Rogers and who had lived in the village for many years). He had heard about the family history in relation to the clock and asked to come and see it. Soon after seeing the clock he was clearing the loft of the family house and found Eric’s bike with the panniers still attached. In the bottom of the panniers, he found two large iron keys. These were found to be for the west door of the church and for the tower. The keys themselves date back to possibly before the Reformation. They have now been returned to the church and will be part of the display once the clock is returned.

When Humphrey took over clock duties, he recruited a couple of deputies to help wind it. One villager, who was not a churchgoer heard the story of the current project from Nic. Hearing the church clock discussed he mentioned that he was one of the deputies appointed by Humphrey. (The other deputy winder from that time’s grandchild was recently baptised – and the grandad noted that he didn’t think he had been baptised – so both were baptised together in church).

Although Humphrey doesn’t wind it daily now – he electrified it some years ago – he still keeps an eye on “his” clock. The old village smithy (complete with its ancient furnace hearth) still exists and it is entirely likely that the clock was actually made there. Montacute in the middle ages had a thriving iron foundry industry – the current church bells were cast in one of these foundries just 100 yds from the church and opposite Humphrey’s house! In the future efforts will be made to determine the origin of the iron ingots from which the clock is made – using modern metallurgical analysis techniques and matching the results to the known geology and locations of ancient local iron ore workings.

Now the clock has been restored to the church it will, by common wish of the Montacute village community, be re-named the Humphrey Hamlin Clock. New lighting has been installed in the clock room and cameras will be installed to service an audio-visual presentation in the nave – making the clock accessible to the 5,000+ visitors to St Catherine’s each year. A feed will be hyper-linked to the St Catherine’s website. The presentation will aim to tell Jesus story in Montacute through the persona of the clock – linking heritage, culture and faith. 

A  service of thanksgiving for both the clock and for Humphrey is planned at 10.30am on Sunday 10 August 2025, to be taken by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, Michael Beasley. 

In the meantime fund raising is well underway to maximise the contribution the clock makes to the village and church heritage and to create a new missional link between church and community. Several spontaneous fund raising activities have occurred – the pub next door to church added a premium to their New Year festivity ticket, a couple in the village with no connection to the church are creating a “round the clock recipe book” to publish and raise funds. All Saints Church School (a BWMAT academy) are engaging strongly with the clock project – both as fund raisers in their own right and also with a number of initiatives to include aspects of the clock in their teaching of maths, science, local history and in further developing their already impressive community integration and deep connections to the church.

Restoration of the clock forms an important stream in the church growth strategy now being implemented at St Catherine’s, optimising the church building as a worship centre, community space, learning environment and of course architectural heritage telling Jesus story in the village from Saxon times to today.