History of the Fairbridge Chapel Tower Clock
The Fairbridge Chapel tower clock is believed to be the first and oldest clock of its kind in British Columbia.
Manufactured in 1875, it has been operating through three different centuries. It is also one of only a very few tower, or turret, clocks still operational in any religious building within the entire country. The rest are mainly in Atlantic Canada and Quebec.
The Clock in Victoria
The tower clock in the Fairbridge Chapel was made by Gillet Bland & Co. of Croydon and London in 1875 and the bell a year later by the same firm, commissioned by Charles E. Redfern of Victoria.
Redfern was a clockmaker by trade having apprenticed with his father Charles in London. In June 1862 he set sail aboard the vessel Tynemouth heading for the west coast of Canada—namely Victoria. He initially was hoping to seek fortune in the Cariboo gold fields but upon arriving to Vancouver Island decided to settle here. A year later he started a small jewellery and clock making business and by 1875 had set up business on Victoria’s Government Street. Then he purchased what turned out to be a magnificent clock for the city.
As written in the Islander a few years ago:
“It was Victoria’s first town clock and would remain a wonder for many decades to come. No matter which direction one walked along Government Street, its huge face could clearly be seen and its bell could be clearly heard. In 1884, when Redfern moved to 43 Government Street the clock went too. Some said his hourly chimes carried clear out to Oak Bay.”
Redfern became Victoria’s mayor in 1883 and again from 1897 to 1899. In 1891 Redfern installed another clock atop the Victoria city hall, which operates to this day. After his jewellery business went bankrupt in 1914, the clock was acquired by James Rose, another jeweler, and continued to strike the hours for over 60 years in the capital city.
As recorded in the Victoria Times:
“Like all landmarks it has through the years gathered stories about it. The tale goes that in the old days, the men working in the bank just across the street, would regularly every day when the clock struck three, drop their pens, pull on their coats and step across for a glass of froth in the tavern once situated just below.
For a long time, too, there was much controversy about whether the clock was to strike or not strike. It seems the gong had an extra loud tone, and disturbed the sleep of many residents around. Obligingly Mr. Rose did away with the gong although, bringing down upon his head the complaints of many more citizens, who swore they were now late for every appointment, and never did know the time, because they always set themselves by the chimes. The gong was replaced, and the sleepless faction again rose up in arms and the argument began all over. Finally it was decided that the sleep of the citizens was the more important and the clock has remained mute ever since.
The bell was in the early days also used as a fire alarm.”
In 1939 Rose donated the clock to the Prince of Wales Fairbridge Farm School for their new chapel.
The Clock at Fairbridge
Early pictures of the newly completed chapel taken during the April 1940 dedication ceremony show boards over the top of the tower. Likely it was installed during the spring or summer of 1940. The clock continued to strike the hours until about 1951 when the Fairbridge Farm School was closed. The chapel was then locked up and except for the occasional use by the Duncan Lutheran congregation until their church was completed in 1957, it was not used again until the early 1970s.
In the first annual report of the Friends of the Prince of Wales Fairbridge Farm Chapel it was reported that in July and August of 1971 the chapel was opened and cleaned. The related purpose at that time was to hold a semi-private Eucharist in observation of a family occasion.
This event was held on August 21st and “The Offerings of the People collected at the above service were expanded in the dismantling, repair and setting up of the Rose Clock in the tower of the church. The Clock Shop, Victoria attended to this matter and we were appreciative of their kindness inasmuch as the total costs, which were one hundred dollars, when discounted at 15%. When re-mounted in the upper chamber of the tower and re-set it was observed to keep the time very accurately and to strike the hours correctly. It is regularly wound and kept in good operating condition.”
For the next few years or until the Cowichan Valley Regional District acquired the chapel from the new owners, Bellamy Properties Ltd., the tower clock remained largely silent. In the spring of 1978 attempts were made to set the clock, but it was next to impossible to get the clock to strike on the hour and to maintain the correct time for more than a few hours. On one occasion the locking lever failed to drop into the count wheel slot and the huge weight kept falling at ever increasing speed until it hit the sawdust on the tower floor. All the time the hammer kept striking the bell.
In June 1978 the bell was stolen. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were called in to investigate and the CVRD was told that likely the brass bell was long gone, either melted down or possibly even out of the country in the hands of some collector. Nevertheless, the Cowichan News printed a story about the missing bell and a few days later the RCMP got a call from an individual who said that they could find it in a roadside ditch “as long as there were no questions asked”. The heavy bell was carefully put back in place and now includes the RCMP investigation sticker on its side.
For the next ten years, or until 1988, the Regional District maintained the Fairbridge Chapel. During this time seventeen weddings were held as well as other events. The clock and bell were wound during these occasions but because the time keeping was sporadic at best the bell was often struck by a ‘human’ jack as the bride and groom emerged from the chapel.
The Fairbridge Chapel Heritage Society acquired the heritage site and buildings in 1988 and one of the first projects undertaken was to hire Mr. Warrick Whitehead, a jeweller from Duncan, to repair the old clock. By the spring of 1989 he had completely repaired and cleaned the clock mechanism at a cost of $650. He also provided the society with information on how to maintain the clock.
After the repair work the old Fairbridge Chapel tower clock maintained very accurate time although on occasion it stops for no apparent reason. Unfortunately for most of the 1990s the clock was only set during the summer and the bell activated for weddings and other special occasions such as the annual Christmas service or on Canada Day, because one family complained about the hourly strikes of the bell.
However, since the spring of 2001 the clock has been functioning on an almost continuous basis and it has been found to be maintaining excellent time.
The Flat-Bed Clock Mechanism
The Fairbridge Chapel tower clock is one of the first generation flat-bed clocks. Big Ben, the very first large flat-bed clock, began operating in Britain just 16 years before the Fairbridge tower clock mechanism was made, and many clockmakers at the time were sceptical that it could accurately maintain time.
Even though Big Ben is much larger than the Fairbridge tower clock the mechanics are very similar. The train of wheels consist of four cogwheels. The power tends to move the wheels quickly, thus “running down” the clock. A device called an escapement, fastened to the pendulum, and connected with the train of wheels, prevents this. Its effect is to change the even motion into little leaps or jerks, thus governing the entire movement. The escapement is adjusted to articulate with the escape wheel, the last of the train, which usually has 30 teeth or cogs. Each full swing of the pendulum in a great clock marks two seconds of time, the beat, and each two revolutions of the escape wheel, one minute. Both the clock and bell mechanisms of the Fairbridge tower clock are wound by hand.
There are two separate mechanisms. The “striking train” (bell-ringing) gear in the clock is one while the “going train” (time-keeping) gear is the other. In addition it has its own driving weight to operate the hammer or jack, which strikes the hours on the bell. At every hour, the timekeeping train of the clock releases the locking lever from the counter wheel, which allows the jack to strike the appropriate number of blows on the side of the bell. The locking lever then falls into the next count wheel, also called a locking plate, slot until it is once again released at the next hour. The count wheel controls the number of blows struck by the hammer, which is a circular brass disc with eleven unevenly spaced slots on the outer edge. The jack will strike the bell 156 blows in a 24-hour period.
The Society produces informative publications about our heritage facilities and their historical significance. These materials offer insights into the Chapel’s architectural and cultural importance, the site’s role in the Fairbridge story, and our ongoing preservation efforts and community initiatives.
Did you know that the bell is tuned to the note of “C”? Read more here about the Fairbridge Chapel Tower Clock.
