clock faces

[granny grump]

Why are the clock faces on some churches blue?

[Clanad]

After reading this site, I would guess the skyblue color stands out much better against the grey stone than a white or black face. At any rate, quite beautiful!

http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/stanwick/page68.phtml

[waimarie]

The link for the blue clock face was a real pleasure Clanad, many thanks. That's what AB web site is all about.

[Cetti]

This may be a reason:

In the early middle ages, artists had no means of producing a strong blue colour. Vegetable dyes and clay washes merely produced a muddy unattractive hue. The only source of a vivid blue was the semi-precious stone Lapis Lazuli from Afghanistan, which was rare and expensive.

The colour blue therefore came to be regarded as a special colour, to used sparingly, and to represent items of particular worth, for example the Virgin Mary is traditionally represented in blue clothing. It may also be true that the choice of blue for the face of church clocks echoes this idea. At a later stage access to blue dyes became easier but the notion of blue as a special colour persisted.

[funkymoped]

is is because they get cold in the winter ?