St. Peter’s Church Clock

In 1814 John Till, Churchwarden of St Peter’s (and later Mayor of St George’s) was in England and heard of a clock to be auctioned. It had been made for H.M. Dockyard in Portsmouth by Thwaites & Reed, clockmakers established in 1740, but proved to be too small. Mr. Till purchased the clock, and it was shipped to Bermuda via the Royal Navy. The clock bell was made in London in 1813 by Thomas Mears and brought to St. George’s with the clock.

The clock was such a success with the local community that funds to reimburse Mr. Till were raised within a day. The clock had an overhaul by the makers in 1961, but otherwise kept time faithfully until 1980.

At that time the clock failed and was replaced by a modern electrified version which was later damaged by Hurricane Fabian in 2003. In 2009 The Friends of St Peter’s Church charity undertook the restoration of the original church clock and clock face which had been kept in storage. Thwaites & Reed of Bristol, who built the original clock, sent technicians to restore and rebuild the clock mechanism which had been kept in the church vestry since being removed from the clock tower. They found the clockworks intact and in good condition, with only a few parts missing, mainly the pendulum and weights, but these were replicated locally with the able assistance of Outerbridge’s Machine Shop and Meyer Steel. The original clock hands and copper clock face were retrieved from the beams of the Rectory coach house where they had lain undisturbed for many years.

Bermuda’s salty climate and the sandy Bermuda stone of the clock tower interior built up in the clock mechanism in the following 15 years and the clock stopped once again. As well as the clock mechanism needing restoration and servicing, the hour hand had broken, most likely due to metal fatigue during a hurricane.

Thwaites & Reed principal horologist Melvyn Lee returned to the island to conduct a survey of the clock in April 2023 and arrived with his team of Brian Carter and Ron Gregory in November 2023 to service the clock.

Of the church clock, Mr. Lee stated, “Before the days of wrist watches, and electronic clocks in every household, the church clock was the civic clock and governed the running of the lives of whole communities. Whilst the Royal Navy dockyards would also have clocks, it would have been essential that St. George’s had the best clock available, coupled to a quality bell.

“Over the years the provenance of the clock has been established and it is one of the few original mechanisms, carrying out its original function of as centre piece of a local community. It is a national treasure.”

The recent maintenance project took place over an intensive seven days. The clock mechanism was cleaned, oiled and overhauled, and parts replaced as needed. The pendulum was removed, painted and reinstalled by Ron Gregory, and new weights were fabricated by in St. George’s by Lunn Marine. The broken clock hands had been removed and shipped to the UK during Mr. Lee's inspection survey in April, and new hands were fabricated as part of the dial restoration. Brian Carter traced the clock face before applying a fresh coat of blue paint, repainting the numerals and lettering before applying gold leaf. Then the new clock hands were attached.

An important part of the restoration was training two St. Georgians in the upkeep and maintenance of the clock mechanism and dial. Ian Birch and Phillip Anderson assisted the horologists during the restoration and received hands-on knowledge of the intricate workings of the clock, how to adjust the timepiece, and training in gold leaf application. Funding for their training and time spent maintaining the clock was provided by the Department of Culture Apprenticeship Programme. 

The restoration project was overseen by The Friends of St. Peter’s Church, the charity which supports the restoration, preservation and promotion of Bermuda’s first church. The first donation for the project was received in March 2022 from St George's Prep School students, whose Penny Drive was supported by the SGPS Trustees and PTA. Following the school fundraiser, Class P4 White visited the church and clocktower, as they raised the most funds. In November 2023 the students returned for a presentation by Mr. Lee, Mr. Birch and Mr. Anderson. Funding for the project came from the UNESCO World Heritage Site Fund, the Chubb Charitable Foundation, the Windward Trust, Department of Culture, individual donors, Robertson’s Drugstore and the Meyer Group of Companies.