Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly. I started out by publishing only weather vanes from the Londonderry area, but now I've been finding interesting weather vanes from all over New England. Sometimes these weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are very unique. Often, my readers tip me off to some very special and unusual weather vanes.
Today's weather vane is from somewhere in New Hampshire.
Do you know the location of weather vane #308? Scroll down to see the answer...
Today's weathervane is located on the tower of the town clock in Hampton, New Hampshire!
Today's weather vane is from somewhere in New Hampshire.
Do you know the location of weather vane #308? Scroll down to see the answer...
Today's weathervane is located on the tower of the town clock in Hampton, New Hampshire!
More than 100 years ago John T. Brown, a resident of Newburyport, Massachusetts, offered
to give the towns of Hampton, Hampton Falls and Seabrook in New Hampshire each a town
clock. Each clock would sit on Route
One, along the seacoast. Brown donated these clocks in memory of his wife, so each one reads "MEMORIAL GIFT" on the clock face instead of the numerals one to twelve. In 1897 the memorial clock in Hampton was installed in
a clock tower above the Odd Fellows hall, but unfortunately this building was
burned down in 1990. The clock was
salvaged, along with the bell, and stored for fifteen years. Eventually clock was rebuilt and installed in a replica tower in front of the Centre
School in downtown Hampton in 2014, as part of the 375th anniversary
of the founding of Hampton. The
reconstruction was completed in 2016.
You can read about the history of this clock tower
in a series of transcribed newspaper articles online at the Hampton Library
website http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/oddfellows/index.htm
The weathervane atop this replica tower was donated
by a local business, NorthEast Lantern in Exeter. The business owner, Skip Heal, used
photographs from the Hampton Historical Society’s Tuck Library collections to
recreate a new weathervane based on the original.
This weathervane is full of secret symbols from the
Odd Fellows fraternal organization. The
three link chain with the letters F, L, and T stand for Friendship, Love, and
Truth (you might have seen this on a tombstone instead of the usual IOOF for “Independent
Order of Odd Fellows”). The moon and
stars are common symbols for the Odd Fellows fraternity, too. The shepherd’s hooks are a symbol of
safety. The highest order of the IOOF is
called “The Encampment” and they use the shepherd’s hooks as their symbol.
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| A close up of the clock face |
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| If you enjoy clockworks, this is a great view right at ground level! |
For the truly curious:
My blog post about the Salisbury, Massachusetts
Memorial Gift Clock (located on Route 1A):
The Hampton Town Clock Website: http://www.hamptonclock.com/
Article about this weathervane donation from the
Seacoast Online website:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20160602/NEWS/160609762/101106/NEWS Click here to see the entire Weathervane Wednesday series of posts!
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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ Above the Town Clock", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 26, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/04/weathervane-wednesday-above-town-clock.html: accessed [access date]).
This week's weathervane is quite special. Great photos too!
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