Latest news with #clock
BBC News
30-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Lincoln's Stonebow clock ticks again after year of silence
A 190-year-old clock above an historic gateway on Lincoln's High Street is now working after being broken for over a year. Since May 2024, time had stood still on the 19th Century clock above the Stonebow until it was repaired on Thursday afternoon. Specialist engineers travelled from Cumbria to install a new winding mechanism.A spokesperson for Lincoln City Council said: "This timepiece has been a fixture in the city for nearly two centuries and we're proud to see it back in full working order." The spokesperson added fixing the clock had been a "very delicate and thorough process" due to its timepiece was installed in 1835 but its mechanism was updated in 1959. Mayor's officer Richard Storey said replacing the clock was "not even under consideration" and they wanted to "modernise and future-proof" it said: "It took a little bit longer than we anticipated and we're finally there."The clock now has a battery back-up so it will no longer be affected by power cuts or the winding mechanism slowing down, Mr Storey added. "Hopefully people will be relieved it's working again." Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
28-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Berkshire clock still keeping village on time after 500 years
Villagers have been celebrating the 500th birthday of the clock in their parish timepiece in East Hendred, near Wantage in rural Oxfordshire, is believed to be the oldest clock in Britain that is still in its original location. With no clock face or hands, it relies on the church bells in the tower at St Augustine's to ring out the time every quarter decision to install it in the church was taken when Henry VIII was on the throne, explained the man responsible for St Augustine's bells, Tower Captain Nigel Findley. "Imagine the excitement that would have caused then," he said. As well as striking the bells every quarter hour, a carillon resembling the insides of a giant musical box, plays a tune called Angel's Song four times a day, every three hours, starting at 09: 2015, one of the hammers used to strike the six bells came away and fell into the mechanism, jamming it and silencing the clock."It was like missing a friend," said church council secretary Ann Pappenheim. "It's a real part of living in the village."When you're working in the garden, it really does give you a sense of time and I missed it," she added. "Now it's back and it's wonderful."The clock, which was originally built a few miles away in Wantage, underwent a lengthy renovation. A modification also saw the installation of a mechanised winding system, ending the requirement for somebody to climb the narrow, winding staircase each day to the clock room to do the job by hand. This week, to mark the clock's birthday, people were able to visit the tower to see the mechanism in as guide was Simon Gilchrist, who led the described it as being "a real passion," to have spent time on the project."It's not often that we as clock repairers get the opportunity to work on something that is old, but also something that is of great historical importance," he clock used to be set using a sundial on the outside of the tower. Now a modern digital clock secured to the wall, next to the Tudor era mechanism is used."When this thing was made 500 years ago, we didn't have the accuracy that we have today," said Mr Gilchrist. Parts of the mechanism like the pendulum expand in the summers heat and contract in the cold of winter, all affecting was a device built for a time when peoples' days began at dawn and ended shortly after the sun went that, he added: "In terms if accuracy, it's pretty accurate." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
