 |
Perhaps
the most striking feature in the South Transept is Prior Castell's Clock.
Prior Castell (1494-1519) erected it in about 1500. It was renovated by
Dean Hunt (1620-1638). Interestingly, the clock survived the devastation
of the Scots prisoners imprisoned in the Cathedral by Oliver Crownwell
after the battle of Dunbar in 1650 - the only wooden thing to do so. One
reason for this may possibly have been out of respect for the Scots thistle
towards the top of the case!
A close look
at the clock reveals an oddity. The main face appears to be divided up
into only 48 minutes. The reason for this is, in fact, that the clock originally
possessed only one hand - the hour hand. Each division, therefore, represents
not a minute but a quarter of an hour - sufficient accuracy, it seems,
for the medieval mind.
striking = beeindruckend
feature = Erscheinung
devastation = Verwüstung
thistle = Distel (die Wappenblume der Schotten)
to reveal = offenbaren
oddity = Kuriosum
face = hier: Zifferblatt
hand = hier: Zeiger
medieval = mittelalterlich
|
