2. Anna's grandfather

Full length Top panel Face Hi John, I have been reading about the Cotterill Grandfather Clocks on the Wirksworth PC web site. I have a clock made by John Cotterill and thought you might be interested to hear about it! I was extremely excited to find the pages on your site with so much information about John Cotterill! It was bought (I think from new, but not totally sure) by my Great Great Grandmother's sister and her husband (therefore, I think he was my Great Great Uncle), known in the family as "Uncle Ashmore". They lived at The Four Alls pub in Greta Bridge, near Barnard Castle and the clock lived there for some time. My Great Grandparents married in 1905 and honeymooned with Uncle Ashmore at The Four Alls where Great Grandma Derby fell in love with the clock. Uncle Ashmore and his wife did not have children so on his death it was passed to Great Grandma Derby and came down the line to her daughter (my Gran), and then to her daughter (my Mum) and now to me as Mum hasn't really got room for it in her small house any more! It is uncannily similar to the one on your web site on the page: http://www.wirksworth.org.uk/X427.HTM (fourth photograph) - the case is exactly the same. The movement is also the same although mine is somewhat dirtier than the one in the photograph! Sadly, my Gran decided the clock face was a bit dirty and took to it with a bottle of Vim, so much of the paint has been taken off, including the black paint depicting the maker. You can just still see it though, when you hold it to the light. I am attaching some photographs of the clock face and the case and do hope these are of interest. If you have any further information about the clocks or John Cotterill that you didn't put on the web site I would be very very interested to receive it. Kind regards, Anna Bailey

3. Another Cottrell grand

The dial is inscribed "Cottrell, Wirksworth" with a stately home painted in the arch. Probably John Cottrell (1780-1862) of Coldwell Street.

4. A Cotterill from Holland

Hello John, Compliments for your websites! On wirksworth.org.uk I found the maker of our antique clock: John Cotterill. We have a John Cotteril Grandfather Clock in a very good condition. See the attached pictures. We live in the Netherlands in the north, in the province of Groningen. The clock was bought at an auction in 1964 in Middelburg, in the province of Zeeland, the place where I grew up. My mother loved to attend auctions and I liked to join her. She had the clock in her home until 2007, when she had to move to a single room-appartment in an elderly resort. The clock and the case needed to be repaired. I found a "clock-doctor" an expert in ancient clocks. He totally renovated the clock and had the case fixed up by a cabinetmaker. So now it proudly stands in the hall of our house in Veendam, Groningen. How our clock found its way from the UK to the Netherlands is not known. Probably it was imported by an antique dealer who took in furniture in England. When I googled "john cotterill wirksworth" the first hit was your site. I was excited to find out about John Cotterill and to see that there are some other owners of his work. If you ever find more details of John Cotterill and/or his clocks please let me now. With Kind Regards, Pim de Bruijne , Veendam, The Netherlands

5. A Cotterill from Ebay

"Here for sale is a nice pagoda topped longcase grandfather clock fitted with an original dial & movement by John Cotterill of Wirksworth who was working between 1770-1835, a respected & talented clockmaker. This example was made about 1816, it is in good working order striking the hours on a bell, it is a chain wind with a cast iron weight & pendulum. The case is made of mahogany & is a later contruction but made to a high standard it has a pagoda top with a blind frieze to the top see photo, also a shell motif to the long trunk door, the hood & trunk door have working locks & keys, the case is all in good condition, no woodworm, the clock stands at 8 ft tall please note it is 96" inches tall!! & is slim in proportion, the dial is a 12" arch."

6. A Cotterill from Walsall via Derby

427v

427w Note old spelling of town.

427x

427y

427z Shepherd and angler opposite a mill

Thanks you for your reply. I have attached some photo's of the grandfather clock. I have not found a date so far, but will have a look in more detail next time it gets a dusting inside (probably over the next weekend or so). History-wise: as I previously said it has been in the family since around 1850 on my mother's side; Matthews, nee Barton living in Derby. From what I can remember, my mother said it was from her mother's side of the family too. I will need to dig out my maternal grandmother's maiden name if you want to know more. This is a little sketchy I'm afraid, but the clock has spent all but the last 7 years in Derby. We live in Walsall, so it has not gone too far. Would you also like some photo's of the mechanism? If so, I can do that this weekend: it will also give me the chance to see if there are any dates anywhere. There may not be though as it has just has a major clean and refurbish (£400) and the repairer asked if I knew how old it was, so I would have thought if there was a date, he would have seen it during the refurb. Kind Regards Neil Bennett

7. A Cotterill from Vancouver via Derby

Photos of this clock expected

I was just looking at your website on John Cotterill. We have a John Cotterill grandfather clock, which has been in our family since it was made - passed down to the eldest son. It started in Heanor I think, then moved to Middlesex, then Cheltenham with my grandfather and is now in Wolverhampton with my mother. My father passed away a couple of years ago so we plan to move it to our house in Vancouver. The face has a picture of a windmill, a canal boat and something else (I forget). My grandfather used to say that those were the equivalent of Concorde and an Apollo rocket in their day! Nick Hawley, nick@hawleyconsult.com, North Vancouver, BC, Canada

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