Early Clocks | Lee Borrett
Redge Buckell
Skelton Fecit, c1698
The Dial
The wonderfully interesting brass clock dial illustrated here is an exceptionally rare survivor signed ‘Redge Buckele, Skelton Fecit’ and dates from around c.1698. Although only the dial survives today, it displays several characteristics closely associated with the early Wigton School of Clockmaking. Most striking is the deeply engraved religious verse occupying the dial centre:
‘Remember man
That Die thou must,
And after that
To Judgment Just.’
The dial also carries a half-quarter band and distinctive candle-type half-hour markers, while the method by which it was originally fixed to its movement also appears closely related to the constructional traditions seen on other early clocks from the Wigton district.
The dial was discovered by Dr William Linnard and provides important evidence that the distinctive religious and stylistic traditions associated with John Sanderson and the Wigton School extended beyond Wigton itself into the surrounding Cumbrian countryside.
Above. Showing a close-up of the Redge Buckele dial centre with its deeply engraved religious verse: ‘Remember man That Die thou must, And after that To Judgment Just’. Photographed by Lee Borrett
Above. Showing a close-up of Redge Buckele’s interesting square calendar aperture. Photographed by Lee Borrett
Above. Showing the signature ‘Redge Buckele, Skelton Fecit’ — Redge Buckele of Skelton made it. Photographed by Lee Borrett
A Link with the
The Wigton School
The religious verse engraved upon this dial closely echoes inscriptions found on the work of John Sanderson and other makers associated with the early Wigton School.
Its constructional details and the way in which the dial was originally attached to its movement provide further evidence of a connection with the wider Wigton tradition, while the location of Skelton shows that these influences were not confined solely to the town of Wigton itself.
The main Wigton School article on this website includes Redge Buckell among the small group of lesser-known Cumbrian makers whose surviving work appears to share characteristics with Sanderson, John Ismay, Richard Sill and their immediate circle. (Early Clocks)
Whether Buckell trained directly with one of the Wigton makers, worked alongside them, or was simply influenced by their clocks cannot presently be established. Nevertheless, the surviving dial provides compelling physical evidence that he was working within the same broad regional tradition.
Summary
Very little is presently known about Redge Buckell himself, and this surviving dial remains one of the few tangible pieces of evidence for his work.
I believe the dial probably dates from somewhere between about c.1695 and c.1705, with c.1698 providing a reasonable working date on stylistic grounds.
The unusual Christian name ‘Redge’ may represent a shortened or personal form of a longer baptismal name, perhaps Reginald or a related form, although without documentary evidence this must remain speculative.
The late Brian Loomes recorded Redge Buckele of Skelton in his Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World, noting him as an early eighteenth-century maker and referring to a clock of the type associated with John Sanderson of Wigton. His directory remains a standard reference work for British clock and watch makers. (The Crowood Press)
The Antiquarian Horological Society cumulative index also records an unusual dial by ‘Buckell, Redge, of Skelton’, providing further published recognition of this rare maker. (AHS Content Files)
Although only the dial survives today, I hope that illustrating it here may eventually help bring to light another example — perhaps even a complete clock — by this intriguing and little-known Cumbrian maker.
Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge the pioneering research of the late Brian Loomes, whose published work did so much to advance our understanding of John Sanderson and the wider Wigton School of Clockmaking.
In his Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World, Loomes recorded Redge Buckele of Skelton as an early eighteenth-century maker and drew attention to the connection between his surviving work and clocks of the type associated with John Sanderson of Wigton.
I would also like to acknowledge Dr William Linnard, who discovered this remarkable surviving dial and thereby brought another previously little-known maker connected with the Wigton tradition to wider attention.
