Richard of Wallingford
Richard of Wallingford measuring with a pair of compasses in this 14th-century miniature.
Born	1292 (1292) Wallingford, England
Died	1336 (aged 43–44) St Albans
Occupation(s)	Astronomer, horologist, cleric, mathematician, astrologer

Richard of Wallingford (1292–1336) was an English mathematician, astronomer, horologist, and cleric who made major contributions toastronomy andhorology while serving asabbot ofSt Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire.

Richard was born, the son of ablacksmith, atWallingford in Berkshire (nowOxfordshire) in England, in 1292. When he wasorphaned he was taken toWilliam de Kirkeby thePrior of Wallingford Priory and dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Wallingford was a dependant priory to St Albans Abbey. Richard subsequently spent six years studying atOxford University before becoming a monk atSt Albans. He later studied for nine more years at Oxford. In 1327 he becameabbot of St Albans.

Richard is best known for theastronomical clock he designed, while he was abbot, which is described in theTractatus Horologii Astronomici (1327). The clock was completed about 20 years after Richard's death by William of Walsham, but was apparently destroyed duringHenry VIII'sreformation and thedissolution ofSt Albans Abbey in 1539. His clock almost certainly was the most complexclock mechanism in existence at the time in theBritish Isles, and one of the most sophisticated ones anywhere.^[1] The only other clocklike mechanism of comparable complexity that is documented in the 14th century is theastrarium byGiovanni de Dondi. Richard’s clock gave the mean time in equal and unequal hours, as well as the true solar time. It also displayed the phases of the moon and showed the positions of the lunar nodes and the height of the tide atLondon Bridge.^[2][3]

Based on the 14th-century literary evidence still surviving in the 20th century, scholars ofhorological history have tried to build recreations of Richard of Wallingford's clock. The best known of these was built by Haward Horological and for many years was displayed at the Time Museum (now defunct) inRockford, Illinois; it is currently on display at the Halim Time and Glass Museum inEvanston, Illinois.^[4] One was built by Eric Watson and is now in theWallingford Museum; one built in 1988 is located at St Albans Cathedral; and one was built by Don Unwin for theWhipple Museum of the History of Science in Cambridge.^[5]

Richard suffered from what was then thought to beleprosy (though it might have beenscrofula ortuberculosis) which he apparently contracted when he went to have his position, as abbot of St Albans Abbey, confirmed by the Pope atAvignon. He died at St Albans in 1336.

Richard also designed and constructed calculation devices: atorquetum, theRectangulus, and anequatorium, which he calledAlbion. The Albion could be used for astronomical calculations such aslunar,solar andplanetarylongitudes and could predicteclipses, and was capable of doing this without relying on a set of tables that had to be copied out.^[6] This is described in theTractatus Albionis. He published other works ontrigonometry, celestial coordinates, astrology, and various religious works.

• Giovanni Dondi dall'Orologio
• Su Song
• Yi Xing

• Falk, Seb (2020).The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science. New York: W.W. Norton.ISBN 978-1-324-00293-2.
• North, J. (2004)God's Clockmaker: Richard of Wallingford and the Invention of Time. Oxbow Books.ISBN 1-85285-451-0
• North, J. (1976)Richard of Wallingford: An edition of his writings. Oxford Univ Press.ISBN 0-19-858139-4
• Watson, E (1979) "The St Albans Clock of Richard of Wallingford".Antiquarian Horology, Number 4, Volume 11, Summer 1979, p. 372–384.
• "Richard of Wallingford". Retrieved5 May 2008.
• "Astronomical Clock, Originally designed by Richard". Archived fromthe original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved5 May 2008.
• "The Astronomical Clock of Richard of Wallingford, essay by Nicholas Whyte". Retrieved1 July 2008.
• "Richard of Wallingford and the Clock of St. Albans, by Deryl Bender". Retrieved1 July 2008.
• "Richard of Wallingford" at theOxford Dictionary of National Biography; Retrieved 26 February 2025

• Wallingford History Gateway
• Images of Richard of Wallingford and the Astronomical Clock of Richard of Wallingford from the British Library

• 1292 births
• 1336 deaths
• 14th-century astrologers
• 14th-century English astronomers
• 14th-century English mathematicians
• 14th-century English Roman Catholic priests
• 14th-century writers in Latin
• Abbots of St Albans
• Astronomical instrument makers
• Catholic clergy scientists
• English clockmakers
• Horology
• Medieval English astrologers
• People from Wallingford, Oxfordshire
• 14th-century Christian abbots

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