The ecclesiastical authorities at Wells assert in
contradiction to this that the clock was the work of one Peter
Lightfoot, and was placed in the cathedral in the latter part of the
fourteenth century. A minute is said to exist in the archives of
repairs to the clock and figures in 1418. It is Mr. Roe's opinion that
the defensive armour on the quarter jacks dates from the first half of
the fifteenth century, the plain oviform breastplates and basinets, as
well as the continuation of the tassets round the hips, being very
characteristic features of this period. The halberds in the hands of
the figures are evidently restorations of a later time. It may be
mentioned that in 1907, when the quarter jacks were painted, it was
discovered that though the figures themselves were carved out of solid
blocks of oak hard as iron, the arms were of elm bolted and braced
thereon. Though such instances of combined materials are common enough
among antiquities of medieval times, it may yet be surmised that the
jar caused by incessant striking may in time have necessitated repairs
to the upper limbs. The arms are immovable, as the figures turn on
pivots to strike.
[Illustration: Quarter Jacks over the Clock on exterior of North Wall
of Wells Cathedral.]
An illustration is given of the palace at Wells, which is one of the
finest examples of thirteenth-century houses existing in England.
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