Prior Castell's Clock is an astronomical clock in

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...

History and description

The clock was placed in the cathedral between 1494 and 1519, during the tenure of Prior Thomas Castell. Dean Richard Hunt renovated it between 1620 and 1638. It was originally on the east side of the

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or ...

, but was moved in 1593 to its current location in the south transept. In 1845, Dean

George Waddington George Waddington (; 7 September 1793 – 20 July 1869) was an English priest, traveller and church historian. Life He was the son of George Waddington (1754?-1824), vicar of Tuxford and Anne Dollond, youngest daughter of the optician Peter Doll ...

removed the clock case from the cathedral. A main part of the clock case was given to Pittington Hallgarth Church in 1847. The clock mechanism was fixed in a blank window. Parts of it were rediscovered in 1936 and Dean

Cyril Alington Cyril Argentine Alington (22 October 1872 – 16 May 1955) was an English educationalist, scholar, cleric, and author. He was successively the headmaster of Shrewsbury School and Eton College. He also served as chaplain to King George V and as De ...

launched a campaign to restore it. Mr. J. Armstrong from London, an expert in paint, was engaged in removing the layers of paint down to the original colouring. In 1969 the cathedral installed a new heating system which caused the wooden supports for the clock to dry out and crack. Metal bands were put round the supports to prevent the clock from falling.

References

{{reflist Individual clocks in England Durham Cathedral Astronomical clocks in the United Kingdom