William Barker was a noted gunsmith who came to Wigan circa 1747 and was made a Freeman in March 1748. He had already established himself as a very reputable gunsmith primarily making fowling pieces and steel cross-bows. His clocks signed William Barker are of the very highest provincial quality but it was only when he was joined by his sons Daye b. 1747 and Thomas b. 1755 that the company embarked on more adventurous pieces.
The present clock is a wonderful example of the zenith of North Country Provincal clockmaking in the last quarter of the 18th. century. The architectural case with its imposing height and girth epitomises all that was desirous to the wealthy North country buyer. It has everything that London clocks did AND with its fine imposing proportions, handsome complicated dial and musical movement it also left the admirer with no doubt in his mind that the owner had a great deal of money!
Four train movements are particularly rare because the majority of musical clocks take their power source from the third train and are often only quarter chiming and mistakenly referred to as musical. The most unusual feature about the dial of this clock is the year calendar around the outer perimeter of the chapter ring. It not only shows the correct date but a whole host of religious dates (a correct list is included with lot) and perhaps the rarest feature of all is the the inclusion of solar time throughout the year.
Barker's masterpiece clock is widely acknowledged to be that featued in Arthur J. Hawkes The Clockmakers and Watchmakers of Wigan, 1950, p.47, pl.VII, but the present clock carries many more indications on the dial than the masterpiece and has four trains of wheels to the other's three.