By Eye on the Past
In the Shropshire village of Prees, where fields roll quietly into the horizon and time still seems to slow on summer afternoons, lived a man whose life both measured and defied time. John Benbow, baptised in 1699 and living until 1806, was a master clockmaker whose delicate craft kept the hours for his community for more than a century. He lived to the extraordinary age of 106, witnessing three centuries and the transformation of Britain itself.
St. Chad’s Church in Prees, where John Benbow likely worshipped and was eventually laid to rest. The surrounding churchyard still holds many stones from the 18th and early 19th centuries.
John’s life began in the final years of the 17th century, a time when most people relied on the sun, bells, or instinct to track the day. As a clockmaker in a rural village, John held an essential role. His hands shaped the wheels and weights of longcase clocks, table clocks, and perhaps even turret mechanisms that regulated daily life in Prees and the surrounding countryside.
Clocks in those days were often the prized possessions of households, passed down through generations—and in Benbow’s case, so was the craft. His son, Thomas Benbow, followed in his footsteps, becoming a clockmaker in his own right. Together, they formed a small but significant local legacy, marking the passage of time in more ways than one.
A longcase clock made by the Benbow family of Prees, Shropshire. The elegant craftsmanship reflects the precision and artistry passed down from John to his son Thomas.
A longcase clockface made by Thomas Benbow of Northwood, Shropshire.
Rare, beautiful English stick barometer made by clock maker Thomas Benbow c. 1785
It’s not hard to imagine the two men side by side—John, well into his later years, passing down the skills of a lifetime to Thomas. Each tick of a clock they repaired or built shared a rhythm between father and son, echoing through generations.
One story, published in local papers at the time of his death, tells of John Benbow’s determination and pride even in old age. Around three years before his death, his tailor delivered a new coat—but had forgotten to include the velvet collar John had specifically requested. So irritated was John by this oversight that he walked the full seven miles to Whitchurch to have the mistake corrected—and then walked the seven miles back. For a man in his hundreds, this was more than a complaint—it was a statement of principle, a symbol of a meticulous nature, and refusal to let even age diminish his standards.
During his lifetime, John Benbow lived through more historical upheavals than most families experience in several generations: from the reign of William III through Queen Anne, the entire Georgian period, and into the Napoleonic Wars. He was born before the invention of the marine chronometer, yet lived to see the Industrial Revolution gather steam and begin reshaping daily life—including the way time itself was understood and regulated.
John’s clocks would have measured not just hours, but history. And remarkably, his own life stretched across more than a hundred years of it.
John Benbow died in 1806, his long life recorded in local parish records and remembered with quiet reverence. It’s not clear how many of his or Thomas’s timepieces survive, but the Benbows left behind a more lasting legacy than wood and brass alone: they gave time to a rural community, and in doing so, left their mark on history.
Gravestone of John Benbow (1699–1806) and his son Thomas Benbow (1739-1809) both clockmakers of Prees. They are buried in the churchyard of St. Chad’s, Prees, Shropshire
Linda
