The Ormskirk Clockmaker

Quite difficult to Blip, down a narrow entry,..  painted by Paul Curtis.
Thomas Barry of Ormskirk is recorded as a clockmaker in Bailey’s Directory of 1787. His is one of the most technically ambitious clocks known to have been made in the area when Liverpool’s reputation was at its height as a centre of horological expertise.


The clock, completed in 1787, was offered for sale by public raffle, with 150 tickets sold at one guinea each. This was a well-known 18th-century promotional sales technique for exceptional pieces.


The clock is housed in a four-sided mahogany case, made by the cabinet-maker James Moorcroft of Ormskirk (1759-1816). It has three engraved faces displaying different aspects of time, while the fourth side has a glazed hinged door to reveal the clock's movement.


The arches above each dial show the movement of the sun and moon, planets and stars. The main dial at the front is inscribed around the aperture Thomas Barry Ormskirk. It has an eight-day spring driven movement. The clock strikes on the hour and plays a choice of three tunes on eight bells in succession, two for three days twice and one for one day (Sunday). It changes the tune automatically as there is no manual select function. The melodies have not been named or identified.