New timepiece for Experience Barnsley Museum

The team at Experience Barnsley Museum has recently acquired one of only three clocking-in clocks used by miners at Barnsley Main Colliery – the site of the Oaks Disaster.

The clock was used in the mid-20^th Century to mark the start and finish of the daily toil of thousands of miners in Barnsley.

Steven Skelley, from Barnsley Museums, said: “Originally made by Gledhill Brook, it is in excellent working condition; and with a sought after ‘fusee’ movement it is a timepiece of considerable quality.

“The clock was still in working use in the 1960s before being used as a decorative timepiece in the now demolished Barnsley Main Transport Office.

“It has been repatriated from far-flung Doncaster and is now safely mounted in the museum store until it is put on display in Experience Barnsley.”

Barnsley Museums has developed links with Barnsley Main Heritage Group, to show the clock at pop-up community and Oaks remembrance events in the future. The project is being supported by Arts Council England.