Jack Spratt’s Clock

This famous clock was built in 1911 to celebrate the coronation of King George V.  Jack Spratt (born in Wootton Rivers in 1858) volunteered to build a clock for St Andrew’s Church.  He offered his time and expertise free as long as the villagers could find ‘a few hundred weight of steel, iron, brass and lead’.  They rose to the challenge and all sorts of fire-irons, chaff cutters, gun metal and the like were delivered to his home (formerly a school) now known as Clock House.

The clock was dedicated on Coronation Day and the newspapers were full of the story calling it the most rare and curious timepiece in all of England.

The clock has three faces and a very unusual dial and a different chime rings for each hour.

Information courtesy of St Andrew’s Church.