Description
Richard of Wallingford, Abbot of St Albans Abbey, built this astronomical clock between 1327 and 1336. It was undoubtedly an impressive instrument; writing in the 1540s the antiquary John Leland, who had seen the clock in the south transept of the abbey, said of it...which (clock) is in my opinion second to none in all Europe... and went on '…one may observe the course of the Sun, the Moon or the fixed stars, or again one may regard the rise and fall of the sea, or lines with an almost infinite variety of figures and demonstrations.

Richard of Wallingford's clock was also an extremely ambitious project. A report from the time shows that King Edward III rebuked Richard for neglecting the ruinous state of his church whilst spending considerable amounts of money on his timepiece. Richard reverently replied that abbots enough would succeed him who would find workmen for the fabric, but no successor would be able to finish the work he had begun. This prediction would prove false, however, as when Richard died in 1336, possibly of leprosy, construction of his clock was incomplete, and it is believed to have been finished by Laurence de Stokes (a brother monk), William de Walsham and possibly Roger de Stoke.

Unfortunately the completed clock appears to have been dismantled soon after Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries (1536-1541), as a writer who had visited the abbey in 1631 does not report it. All possible traces of the clock's location in the Abbey were later swept away during the First Baron Grimthorpe's restoration of St. Albans in the late 19th century. Richard of Wallingford had, however, written manuscripts describing the clock, though unfortunately several parts have been lost and the description that remains leaves much to conjecture. Dr. J D North has translated what material survives, as well as undertaking a great deal of research to piece together many of the details concerning the clock. This replica is based on Dr North's translation and built to 1/4
size, as the original was too large to be displayed in a museum.

Wallingford's astronomical clock is in two sections. One contains the simple dial indicating the 24 hours mean time, and this section contains the going train that included the striking mechanism. Richard describes two systems, one that strikes a single stroke at each hour and the other that strikes 1 through to 24, but he gives no indication which was used. This replica has the latter system.

Coupled to the clock but separate from it is the astronomical unit. This shows the movement of the Moon and its phases and signals the lunar eclipses. An eclipse is indicated when the Moon, the Dragons Head or Tail and the shadow of the Sun coincide. The handle on the case enables the Moon to be rotated on its orbit. Whereas the clock dial indicates mean time the Astronomical Dial indicates true solar time. This is derived from a large oval contrate gearwheel that can be seen near the centre of the mechanism. The dial behind the chapter ring has a few known stars indicated and the curved lined enable sunrise and sunset to be determined.

This astronomical clock and the replica of the near contemporary planetarium of Giovanni de Dondi (standing in the discover gallery next door) represent the two styles of clockmaking in the early 14th century. The Wallingford clock was made in the more traditional 14' century manner by a clocksmith whilst the Dondi planetarium was made by a scientific instrument maker.
03/02/2023
Created by: Guey-Mei hsu on 03/02/2023