Volunteers at a 17th-century country house have adjusted historic timepieces ahead of the clocks going forward tonight.
This comes as the UK is set to welcome summer this weekend, bringing lighter evenings and darker mornings as the nation’s time zone shifts – marking the start of British Summer Time (BST).
The Grade I-listed mansion Kingston Lacy, located near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, has an extensive inventory of antique timepieces, including the impressive ‘eight day’ Tavern clock.
The historic clock was made in 1780 by clockmaker John Hardy – and is a rare survivor, as many perished due their unreliability. It sits in the Servants Hall, which dates back to when the property was built around 1663.
The volunteers have also set a small ‘repeater’ clock, whose cord is pulled to make it strike the previous hour. It dates back to 1688 and was made by 17th-century clockmaker Francis Raynsford.
The clock, which sits in the Spanish Room, has been in the manor since it was the home of the Bankes family, who lived there for more than 300 years. The country house is now owned by the National Trust.
The clocks annually go forward by an hour at 1am GMT on the last Sunday of March, switching from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) to British Summer Time (BST).
This is also known as moving from standard time to Daylight Saving Time, as an hour of daylight shifts from the mornings to the evenings, with sunrises and sunsets occurring an hour later.
The Grade I-listed mansion Kingston Lacy, located near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, has an extensive inventory of antique timepieces, including the impressive ‘eight day’ Tavern clock
The time zone shift marks the start of longer days as the countdown begins to the summer solstice – the longest day of the year.
UK citizens will enjoy more than 16 hours of daylight a day by June, as the sun rises before 5am and sets after 9pm.
The shift dates back to 1907, when the idea was suggested by builder William Willett in a pamphlet titled The Waste of Daylight.
The idea allegedly came to Mr Willet during his early morning horse rides, as he noticed how many people were still sleeping despite the sun having risen.
The Edwardian builder from Farnham, Surrey, campaigned time should be moved forward by four 20-minute increments during April.
The proposal by Mr Willett, who was the great-great-grandfather of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, gained momentum – which was stalled by the outbreak of WWI.
The Summer Time Act was introduced in 1916, in which between spring and autumn, the legal time would be an hour ahead of GMT.
The Act was then implemented during WWI when the nation needed to utilise daylight to preserve coal.
The volunteers have also set a small ‘repeater’ clock, whose cord is pulled to make it strike the previous hour. It dates back to 1688 and was made by 17th-century clockmaker Francis Raynsford
The British time zone has changed twice since 1916, after British Double Summer Time was introduced during WWII to boost productivity.
The clocks therefore went forward two hours in the summer while the winter clocks kept to an hour ahead of GMT – which remained between 1939 and 1945.
Former prime minister Harold Wilson then trialled British Standard Time between 1968 and 1971, as clocks went forward but not back.
This move was overruled after a free vote in the House of Commons, starting the transition we see today.
