Church Clock, Sherburn Hospital Chapel, Sherburn Hospital, Shincliffe, Durham. DH1 2SE.
Posted by: 
greysman
N 54° 46.095 W 001° 31.328
30U E 595077 N 6070004
This Church Clock is a Skeleton, only numerals and hands.
Waymark Code: WMN7DP
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/11/2015
Views: 2
The Chapel of Sherburn Hospital was built c1181 as the chapel to a leper colony and hospital founded by Hugh de Puiset (Bishop Pudsey) to care for 65 lepers and was rather clumsily dedicated to "our Lord, to the Blessed Virgin, to St. Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha". It has an early C13 tower and chancel and is Grade II* listed.
Badly damaged by fire in 1864 it was largely rebuilt with an added north aisle in 1868 to the designs of Austin and Johnson, the estimate for its restoration was £1,590. The chapel consists of a Geometrical Gothic west tower and a continuous Romanesque nave and chancel with north aisle. The tower is broad, square, angle-buttressed and 3-staged with restored openings. The tall lower stage has a round-arched doorway on the south and pointed lancets above. There are blind arcades on the second stage, each with three pointed arches on colonnettes, the central arcade on the north and south sides have pairs of lancets with timber louvres to the bell chamber. The short top stage has blind arcades, each with six trefoil-headed arches on colonnettes. The restored embattled parapet is on a corbel table and there is a single bell in the tower, cast by Smith of York in 1724, which chimes the hours, the clock 'face' being of the skeleton type, only the rings holding the Roman numerals, minute marks, and the hands, all of which are painted gold colour. It can be seen in the third stage of the tower and facing south-west, the orientation of the chapel being north-west/south-east.