The Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon has secured a small pocket watch that is believed to have belonged to Oliver Cromwell.
Image by: simonhillphotos.com
It was displayed at the museum in 2024 and, after a public appeal along with grants from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Art Fund, now has a permanent home there.
The watch is of a Puritan style, in a silver case, and would have indicated the date as well as the time using a clockwork mechanism wound daily. It was made by the London watchmaker William Clay, who lived on the same street as Cromwell in 1647.
Cromwell is believed to have given the watch to one of his officers, John Blackwell, while on campaign in 1650. It was then passed down until it was sold in 2019 to the owner who offered it for sale to the museum. It is one of only two watches with a reasonable provenance to have belonged to Cromwell, the other being at the British Museum.
For more details and the museum’s upcoming programmes, visit cromwellmuseum.org