Pudsey Parish Church Tower and "A Clock For All Time"
As Pudsey Parish Church celebrates it bicentenary this weekend, we take a closer look at its impressive tower and the clock that it holds - for both have a special significance for Pudsey.
The tower is not only a great landmark, standing proudly on the skyline, visible from Ilkley Moor to Morley and very clearly from Westgate Hill (a fantastic view where the church appears to float amongst the trees). It also holds a special clock that has its own origins right here in Pudsey Chapeltown, the product of the world famous "Potts of Leeds".
Note – this blog refers to Pudsey St Lawrence prior to 1873, and Pudsey Parish Church afterwards when the Town became a full Parish.
W.Potts & Sons: The Pudsey Years 1833-1862
William Potts founded the renowned clockmaking firm of William Potts & Sons in Pudsey in 1833, having moved to Pudsey from Darlington to set up his clockmaking business, only 9 years after the new Church in Pudsey had opened. He was soon to marry local lass Elizabeth Banks, and by 1847 the Potts family had established their residence at Chapeltown, Pudsey, where they lived and worked above their retail shop. The building dated back to 1742, and the shop front had its own distinctive home made clock face to help locals keep an eye on the hour, and no doubt aided the landlord of the Commercial call time.
Elizabeth Potts was not just a supportive wife but a canny partner in the business, known for her keen commercial sense and active involvement. Together, they managed a clockmaking business with a growing reputation for high-quality work, both in domestic clocks and later in larger turret clocks for factories and churches. Incredibly they managed all this with a growing family of seven children, staying in the town for 30 years.
Pudsey, though not a large place, was home to some significant business relationships for William and Elizabeth. They connected with local jeweller and watchmaker Joseph Parker, and together they worked on notable projects, including a school indoor striking wall clock for the Moravian School in Fulneck.
When William Potts moved the business to Leeds in 1862, the family’s connection to Pudsey did not disappear. The Chapeltown premises were sold to Joseph Parker, who continued the business with connections as far afield as Paris, eventually passing it on to his son. His watch repairing and jewellery business ran until 1931 when the building was demolished. The illustration below was sketched by George Scarth just prior to the demolition of this proud old garret house:
Famous buildings and Churches
Leeds is festooned with Potts' time pieces, such was their popularity. They can be found on public buildings such as the Leeds Town Hall, Civic Hall, the old Post Office, Corn Exchange and the Minster, with many more around town and the area. Not forgetting their "Time Ball" on Guildford Street and the stunning automatic winding system that drives the "Robin Hood" clock in Thornton's Arcade.
Potts clocks can be found outside England, with examples at Lerwick Town Hall in Shetland, the Roman Catholic Church Hall in Melbourne, Australia and the Post Office in Port Lyttleton, New Zealand.
Good examples of domestic Potts clocks today can set you back over £2500 at auction!
A photostream of Potts clocks can be seen on Flikr:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/1008788@N20/
The Clock at St Lawrence Church, Pudsey
One of the most notable projects undertaken by William Potts was the clock at St Lawrence Church in Pudsey. Despite having just moved his business to Leeds, William Potts had kept a deep connection with Pudsey. The creaky old clock at St Lawrence, that had been rescued from the abandoned Chapel of Ease, had been under William's care for years, but was worn out by 1860. Efforts to raise funds for a new clock were initially met with opposition, but a voluntary subscription eventually provided the necessary funds.
In 1863, William Potts was awarded the contract to create a
new and suitable clock for Pudsey St Lawrence Church. This clock featured the
latest gravity escapement and chimes modelled after those used in Bradford
Cathedral. It was completed and installed in 1864, and was significant as the
largest flatbed clock made by Potts. Despite being manufactured in Leeds,
William Potts made a special exception for this project, marking the clock’s
plate with “W.POTTS 1864 PUDSEY.”
The clock mechanism itself is a thing of simple beauty, albeit hidden in a cabinet in a floor above the bellringers. A complex system of gears drives all four clock faces on the exterior of the tower, this also has its own chimes. With thanks to Sally and Margaret at Pudsey Parish for allowing me access to this part of the tower.
The installation of this clock marked the end of an era as
Potts fully transitioned his business focus to Leeds. By the time that the
Church was elevated to full Parish status in 1878, Pudsey had a fine and
reliable clock at its heart, one that all could be proud of.
The Church Tower
The 1818 Church building act made a million pounds of funds available for the building of new churches. St. Lawrence at Pudsey was one of the first of these churches, and the third most expensive to be built from the Parliamentary Grant. The final cost was a whopping £13,360.00 (£1,228,620 in todays brass). This replaced the ancient Chapel of Ease that had served the town since the Middle Ages. The foundations of the new Church tower were dug through a hastily removed coal seam. Sadly one of the roofers fell to his death during the building work and became the first to be buried in the churchyard. Even with a labour force of thirty, the building took three years to finish instead of the estimated two.
The Church was consecrated by the Archbishop of York on 30 August 1824. The mornings celebrations were ushered in by the ringing of bells and a flag hoisted on the south west pinnacle of the tower. It is thought that 2500 spectators attended.
Later in 1899 a searchlight was placed on the roof of the tower to illuminate the sky and celebrate Pudsey's incorporation as an Independent Borough. That must have been quite some sight.
The tower also holds eight bells that were recast and rehung in 1957, by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, and boy do they make a fantastic noise; have you heard one of their famous peels?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smBVcwSYnzM
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| East Face of the clock tower overlooking the Park c1900 |
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| The view today looking back at the Park from the same window in the tower |
We need your help!
Sadly both the Parish Church tower, and its clock now need extensive repairs. Even making a small contribution of just £5 will help get the total towards the £150,000 target.
The church is organising a number of bicentenary events across the year, and the temporarily removed clock face is available to view. The Church will be open to celebrate its 200th birthday with everyone from August 30th to September 1st. And don't forget the Pudsey Scarecrow festival will also be on at the same time in the Park (with profits raised going to the tower restoration fund).
You can donate to the church’s clock appeal online here
https://givealittle.co/c/6VLdNvDmVSAMJmbs6vwi28
contact the church on 0113 257 7843 or e-mail office@pudseyparish.org.uk.
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| The old clock face available to view in the Church |
Potts of Leeds: Five Generations of Clockmakers by Michael Potts
The Story of Pudsey Parish Church by the much missed Ruth Strong
West Leeds Dispatch - with thanks to their team of volunteers
Enjoyed the blog? Have an interesting Church or Potts clock tale of your own? please leave some feedback in the comments. Wait - there's more! Follow for future blogs - including: Queen Victoria's Children of the Mines, Trams Trams and more Trams, and Stanningley - the lost Northern Powerhouse...
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What a fascinating and extremely interesting paper. Thanks Damon.
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