The Bloomfield Presbyterian Church on the Green clock and chimes will be operating again in several months, according to Pastor Ruth Boling. The company doing the work, located in Rhode Island, last week took away the parts to be restored. According to Boling, the clock stopped in 2022 and needs an overhaul.
The person who would ordinarily give the timepiece its annual check-up, she explained, would not come out to the church as had been planned because of the pandemic. Then he retired. By the time the person he recommended came out, the clock froze up.
“There’s an organization in New York City called Save America’s Clocks,” Boling said, “and the founder just happened to be a long-time friend of our food pantry co-director. She recommended them and they recommended Peter Nunes, an antique clock restoration specialist, who did an analysis of the clock.”
To raise the money for the restoration, Boling said the church had a joint-campaign for the clock and the sanctuary, which required renovation. The campaign raised $49.5K.
“We had a lot of support from the town and had a big push starting in December,” she said. “Peter and his team came to disassemble the clock in the summer heat, July 7 and 8, and transported it to Rhode Island. The project will restore the time and strike movement. It won’t be long before it’s working again and the chimes are ringing.”
Funding for the sanctuary, Boling said, was “in striking distance,” but the clock came first.
“When we first consulted with Save America’s Clocks, they said a nonworking clock is a signal, but a working clock is another symbol. The chiming from this clock is the soundtrack of our lives in Bloomfield.”
According to Boling, the clock was manufactured by the Seth Thomas Clock Co., Thomaston, Conn., and installed in 1896, for the church centennial, with four additional bells donated by Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Davis. The clock strikes five bells on the quarter hour. It has a brass movement, but when the clock company began manufacturing, in 1814, the gears were carved from mountain laurel. Brass was introduced in 1842. The Church on the Green clock movement was electrified in the ’60s.
The Seth Thomas Clock Co. perfected the design and mass production of large public clocks. The burgeoning railroad industry made this a necessity: People wanted to know if they would be on time for their train.
Nunes said the clock frame and components are cast iron and require cleaning. He would try to preserve any original paint.
The tune the chimes play is known as Westminster Quarter, which is the tune played by Big Ben, in the Elizabeth Tower Belfry, in the Palace of Westminster. It consists of four notes: G sharp, E sharp, E and B.
Nunes, a landscaper, said he repaired clocks while in college and there was a big difference between watches and clocks. He also said that, while clock repairers are older individuals, watch repairers are younger people.
“The steeple and clock face are depicted on the bicentennial seal of the township of
Bloomfield, in recognition of the fact that the church predates the town,” Boling said. “In fact, the town took its name from the church.”
Photo Courtesy of Pastor Ruth Boling
About the Author
