top of page

Question 5: Telling the time . . .
That's right
The correct answer is ‘Looking at the clock on St Mary Overie Church (now Southwark Cathedral)’.
The church had a bell but no clock face, so there was nothing to see. ‘Clock’ means bell, and in those days it was something you heard, not saw. Shakespeare refers to a pocket sundial in As You Like It (“drew a dial from his poke”). Plays at the Globe began at around 2pm and attracted large audiences every day. And some wealthy people in London owned watches. These only had an hour hand and were intended for show more than accuracy, but they’d be a decent guide to knowing it was about 2pm.
bottom of page

