Samuel Thorp, or Thorpe, (c. 1765 – 1838) was a clockmaker born in

Madeley, Shropshire Madeley is a constituent town and civil parish in Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. The parish had a population of 17,935 at the 2001 census. Madeley is recorded in the Domesday Book, having been founded before the 8th century. Histo ...

. He was baptized 6 January and became apprenticed in 1780 to a renowned

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Clockmaker Robert Webster. On 20 December 1790 he married Mary Newall at

Ford, Shropshire Ford is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 890. Ford lies west of the county town of Shrewsbury, just off the A458 road and near to the River Severn, at . The Royal Mail p ...

. Samuel Thorp died in 1838 and was buried in Abberley Churchyard in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

on 15 February. Mary joined him there on 19 February 1843.

Works

* Great Witley. In April 2010 the restored Samuel Thorp clock went on display in the

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

. It was commissioned by

Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley PC, DL (22 December 1780 – 16 April 1833), was a British peer and Whig politician. He served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen Pensioners under Lord Grey between 1830 and 1833. Background Foley ...

in 1804 and served both Witley Court and the parish until 1877 when it was replaced by the present clock. *

Shrawley Shrawley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the county of Worcestershire, England. The village is situated on the western bank of the River Severn. The northern and southern boundaries of the parish are two small tribu ...

Just outside the porch of the church is a base of a medieval stone cross. This is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The cross itself was destroyed during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. It is now mounted by a horizontal

sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

made by Samuel Thorp in 1819 and inscribed, "Ab Hoc Momento pendet Aeternitas." *

Stourport-on-Severn Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, a few miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Bewdley. At the 2011 ce ...

One of his most notable clocks adorns the yacht club at Stourport-on-Severn. It was erected in 1813 and paid for by public subscription.Unlocking Stourport's Past Charles Hadwell, ''The Stourport Clock'' October 1997 updated 14 January 2007 Accessed 12 May 2014
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References

1760s births 1838 deaths People from Madeley, Shropshire English clockmakers {{England-bio-stub