Churches were however more than dis

Churches were however more than distinctive buildings in the landscape, they
stood as beacons of order against the chaos of the world through determining
human relations between the sacred and the profane.39 In practical terms, this
‘cosmic order’ was achieved through the regulation of daily life by the measuring
and ordering of time.40 Time-keeping instruments, that is sundials, and, from the
late thirteenth century, mechanical clocks broadcast the passing of sacred time both
within and outside the church. Anglo-Saxon sundials are usually found above the
south door, as at Great Edstone in North Yorkshire, where the sundial was marked
out to distinguish the five (canonical) hours of the day: Prime, Terce, Sex, None,
Vespers.41 An inscription described it as a ‘wayfarer’s clock’, perhaps suggesting it
was also intended for use by travellers passing by the church, or for all Christians
passing through the world.42 Mechanical clocks were similarly concerned to mark
liturgical time; early clocks like that at Wells cathedral lacked faces, striking the
hours, sounding the trumpets throughout the church. Such timepieces, once secular
clocks were introduced, helped ensure that the sacred time of the church was