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Thread: Wood You Believe It?

  1. #1
    Grand Master Griswold's Avatar
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    Wood You Believe It?

    I live quite near to the village of Nostell where that wonderful clock maker John Harrison was borne. The National Trust house Nostell Priory, next to that village, has one of his timepieces on display.



    This is one of the few of his very early pieces still in existence. It is interesting as it's movement is made almost entirely of wood, each cog in the movement being hand carved by the master himself






    And the dial, made of brass, is beautiful. It also has a date window at 6 o-clock, not bad for a wooden movement 300 years old which still works. And John Harrison hand signed and dated the movement on the date wheel.



    The son of a carpenter, John chose wood because of it's resistance to expansion and contraction due to temperature fluctuations, and went on to solve the Longitude problem of being able to tell the time accurately at sea thus significantly aiding navigation. Though his collecting of the reward that was offered for doing so took a very long time indeed. Dava Sobel's book 'Longitude', which covers the subject in great detail, is well worth finding and reading.

    The clock as shown in the snapshots above has been removed from it's normal carved wooden case and displayed in a glass cabinet so that all the details of the movement can be seen - pity my snapshots didn't work so well through the glass. However, there's a great YouTube video showing the clock in operation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-4BzNwYmmA

    I understand that the National Trust are proposing to make a working replica of John's original and keeping the existing clock as-is to preserve it's originality - they must have a WIS working in their midst

    If you're ever in the Doncaster/Wakefield area it's well worth a visit to Nostell Priory to see this wonderful piece of history.
    Best Regards - Peter

    I'd hate to be with you when you're on your own.

  2. #2
    Master sish101's Avatar
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    Great post - thank you. Oddly enough I was watching a James Burke Connections from the 1980s last night and it featured John Harrison and his work solving the Longitude problem.

  3. #3
    Grand Master magirus's Avatar
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    Very interesting indeed Peter, thanks for sharing.
    F.T.F.A.

  4. #4
    Grand Master Neil.C's Avatar
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    Nice post Peter.

    Carved from wood, wow.
    Cheers,
    Neil.

    My Speedmaster website:

    http://www.freewebs.com/neil271052

  5. #5
    Thanks for posting, always good to remember Harrison's achievements.

  6. #6
    The longitude prize was very rich as I recall?

  7. #7
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JGJG View Post
    The longitude prize was very rich as I recall?
    £20k. Apparently it was a lot of money three hundred years ago!

  8. #8
    Grand Master Andyg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave+63 View Post
    £20k. Apparently it was a lot of money three hundred years ago!

    It was but but I am not sure it was ever paid in full.

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
    Friedrich Nietzsche


  9. #9
    Grand Master Mr Curta's Avatar
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    A very interesting post, thank you.

    Harrison by Jonathan Betts (Curator Emeritus at the Royal Observatory) is a great little book on the subject.

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harrison-Jo...MHGPVJNDGXEVCD


    I have finally bitten the bullet and ordered a copy of The Marine Chronometer: Its History and Development by the restorer of the Harrison chronometers, Rupert T. Gould. I'll report back when it arrives.

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marine-Chro...6028150&sr=1-6

  10. #10
    Grand Master markrlondon's Avatar
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    Very good, thanks for this post.

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