As you will have seen when driving from Richmond & entering Grinton, St Andrew's Church now has a new clock-face on the tower.

The old face was pale blue and was made from lead mounted on a wooden frame and the latter had rotted. Unusually, the hands were one of brass & the other of steel. Before this, the face was white with black Roman numerals.

The workings of the clock are dated 1896 and were installed at the time of the Victorian restoration of the Church. The black & white face also probably dates from then.

I would welcome any further information about the Church clock, particularly 19th century & earlier.

There is a sundial dated 1833 high on the south aisle outer wall near the porch.

A 'curfew' bell was rung on winter evenings to guide anyone out late on the moors to safety.

The original tower was completely rebuilt in the 16th century.

Please see the tower, clock & bells photo album for many more & better quality photographs and more information. I am grateful to Mr. N. Colman & Mr. R. Court for permission to include their photographs.

There are many more photographs on this site of the church here.

The clock is driven by weights hanging down the tower.

The clock was made by William Potts & Sons of Leeds and installed in 1896.

Please see the tower, clock & bells photo album for many more & better quality photographs and more information.

St. Andrew's has a ring of six bells. The tenor bell is the oldest and heaviest. It weighs 10 hundredweight (half a ton).

It bears the inscription “Sancta Catarena ora pro nobis +” (“St Catharine, pray for us.”) Since the church is dedicated to St Andrew, the reason for this inscription is not immediately obvious, unless it was previously installed in some other church elsewhere. It has plausibly been suggested that it might have come from Ellerton Priory, a house of Cistercian nuns about three miles down the dale.

The first and third bells are by Dalton, and both bear the inscription “Gloria in altissimis Deo” (“Glory to God in the highest”): one is dated 1750 and the other 1763. Dalton was also responsible for the fourth dated 1779. The fifth is inscribed “Jesus be our speed 1623”. The second bell is by Mears and is from 1825. The frame was made in 1751 and bears the maker’s name as Harrison of Barrow in Lincolnshire. The bells were re-hung in 1926.

This new frame was built to hold eight bells.

Please see the tower, clock & bells photo album for many more & better quality photographs and more information.

Information from 'St. Andrew's Parish Church, Grinton' by Revd. Paul Burbridge.

In the 1800s choirboys climbed to the roof and scraped the outline of their clogs into the lead of the roof. They added their names or initials and the dates.

Please see the tower, clock & bells photo album for many more & better quality photographs and more information.