CHRIST'S CHURCH SPITALFIELDS
The mechanism of this clock runs so efficiently that it only has to be wound a couple of times each year.
The clock has witnessed some of Londons evil history
During the autumn of terror, the unfortunate ladies of the evening, the terrified inhabitants of the parish, the policemen in pursuit and the Ripper himself, had but to raise their eyes to see Christ Church ’s steeple above. That is perhaps the last thing Martha Tabram saw, as she walked to her death in George’s Yard.
Since 1867, the Church had offered to would-be timekeepers its illuminated clock besides the peal of its bells. When witnesses came forward to talk to the police or the press or to testify at the inquests of the Ripper’s victims, they often established the time of events in their narratives by the Church clock. Thus, Albert Cadosch. Early in the morning of 8 September, he overheard Annie Chapman talking to the Ripper in the backyard of the house next door, 29 Hanbury Street . As he passed the Church on his way to work, he looked up at the clock. It was 5:32. At 5:45, the clock woke up John Davis, the carman who would find Annie’s body a few minutes later.
Sarah Lewis knew that she had turned into Dorset Street at exactly 2:30 in the morning of 9 November because she had looked at the Church clock as she walked past. At that time, George Hutchinson was waiting at the corner of Miller’s Court for Mary Kelly’s visitor to come out. As he finally gave up and left, the clock struck three. Within half an hour, the clock woke up Sarah Lewis, who remained awake in the dark long enough to hear a faint cry of ‘Murder!’ coming from somewhere outside.