Exeter Cathedral astronomical clock
The Exeter Cathedral astronomical clock is one of the most remarkable medieval timepieces surviving in England, housed within the magnificent Exeter Cathedral (the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) in the heart of Exeter, Devon. The clock occupies a prominent position on the north transept wall of the cathedral interior and has been captivating visitors for well over five centuries. It belongs to a distinguished family of great medieval astronomical clocks found in English cathedrals, alongside those at Wells, Salisbury, and Ottery St Mary, and is considered one of the finest examples of late medieval horology and cosmological art still in working condition. For anyone with an interest in medieval science, craftsmanship, or the history of timekeeping, it is an object of genuine wonder.
The clock's origins date to the late fourteenth century, with documentary evidence suggesting it was constructed around 1376, making it one of the oldest working clocks in the world. It is thought to have been made by a craftsman named Lote, though the precise details of its commission remain somewhat obscure. The movement itself — the mechanical engine that drives the clock — is believed to be among the oldest surviving clock movements in the country, and possibly predates its current dial. The clock has been modified and repaired numerous times over the centuries, but its essential medieval character has been preserved with extraordinary care.
The dial of the clock is a breathtaking piece of medieval cosmological art and scientific illustration. It presents a geocentric model of the universe as understood in the Middle Ages, with the Earth depicted as a golden sphere at the very centre. The Moon, represented by a sphere half gilded and half black, rotates to show its phases as they change throughout the lunar month. The Sun is shown as a golden fleur-de-lis moving around the outer edge of the dial, completing a full circuit in twenty-four hours. The dial also indicates the time of day, the age and phase of the Moon, and the approximate position of the Sun in the zodiac. The face is painted in rich blues and golds, still vivid after centuries, and looking at it one feels transported directly into the intellectual and spiritual world of the medieval scholar.
A detail of the clock that has entered local legend and attracted considerable attention over the years is the small hole visible at the base of the clock's case. This opening is popularly said to have been made in the fourteenth century to allow the cathedral cat to pass in and out of the clock housing to catch mice, which might otherwise damage the clock's mechanism. The story is charming and plausible — cats were indeed kept in medieval churches for precisely this purpose — and it has given the clock an endearing domestic quality quite at odds with its grand cosmological ambitions. Whether the hole is genuinely medieval or a later addition remains a matter of some debate, but the tale has been repeated for generations and has made the clock famous well beyond the world of horology.
Experiencing the clock in person is a memorable sensory occasion. The cathedral interior is vast, cool, and shadowed, with the longest unbroken medieval vaulted ceiling in the world stretching overhead. The clock occupies the north transept, and approaching it one becomes aware of the quiet, measured tick and the faint movement of the Moon sphere against the luminous painted dial. The colours of the face — deep azurite blue, burnished gold, and flashes of red — catch whatever light filters through the cathedral's great windows. Around the clock the stonework is ancient and worn, and the atmosphere in this part of the building is one of great stillness, broken only by the distant echo of footsteps and, occasionally, the sound of choristers in practice near the choir.
The surrounding area of Exeter Cathedral Close is itself one of the finest medieval urban spaces in England. The cathedral sits within a peaceful precinct of handsome Georgian and medieval buildings, with wide lawns and benches where visitors can sit and absorb the view of the great west front with its extraordinary screen of carved figures. The city of Exeter surrounds the close on all sides, and within a short walk are the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, the medieval Guildhall, the network of underground Roman and medieval passages, and a busy city centre with good independent shops, cafes, and restaurants. The cathedral city atmosphere is well preserved in the close even as the modern city pulses just beyond its borders.
Visiting the clock requires entering Exeter Cathedral, which is open to visitors throughout the year, though a suggested donation or entry contribution is requested. The cathedral is free to enter for prayer and quiet reflection, but sightseeing visits typically involve a voluntary contribution to the ongoing maintenance of the building. The clock is always visible from the nave and transept and does not require any special access or timed admission. Exeter itself is well connected by rail, with direct services from London Paddington and London Waterloo as well as from Bristol, Plymouth, and other major cities. The city centre and cathedral are about a ten to fifteen minute walk from Exeter Central station, or slightly longer from Exeter St Davids. Parking nearby is available but limited and the city centre is best navigated on foot.
The clock is particularly atmospheric during the quieter visiting hours of weekday mornings, when the cathedral is less crowded and the light through the clerestory windows falls cleanly on the painted dial. Those visiting during choral evensong — a daily service at Exeter for which the cathedral is justly famous — will find the combination of medieval music and medieval science unusually powerful. The clock has stood through the English Reformation, the Civil War (during which Parliamentary troops stabled horses in the nave), the Blitz, and five and a half centuries of ordinary Devon weather, and it continues to mark time with a patience and precision that is, in itself, a kind of philosophy.