''Father Time'' is a weathervane at

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

, London, in the shape of Father Time removing the bails from a wicket. The full weathervane is tall, with the figure of Father Time standing at . It was given to Lord's in 1926 by the architect of the Grandstand, Sir Herbert Baker. The symbolism of the figure derives from Law 12(3) of the Laws of Cricket: "After the call of Time, the bails shall be removed from both wickets." The weathervane is frequently referred to as ''Old Father Time'' in television and radio broadcasts, but "Old" is not part of its official title. ''Father Time'' was originally located atop the old Grand Stand. It was wrenched from its position during the Blitz, when it became entangled in the steel cable of a

barrage balloon A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult. Early barra ...

, but was repaired and returned to its previous place. In 1992 it was struck by lightning, and the subsequent repairs were featured on the children's television programme ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

.'' ''Father Time'' was permanently relocated to a structure adjacent to the Mound Stand in 1996, when the Grand Stand was demolished and rebuilt. It was again damaged in March 2015 by the high winds of Cyclone Niklas, which necessitated extensive repair by specialists. In 1969 ''Father Time'' became the subject of a poem, "Lord's Test", by the

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and England cricketer

John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology, in part because of his work in tracing the so ...

Notes

External links

* {{Portal bar, Cricket, London, Visual arts Cricket in London Meteorological instrumentation and equipment Lord's Herbert Baker buildings and structures