Have you ever looked up at the clock tower and noticed that there is a faded one handed clock and a sundial. For those brave enough to climb the tower there is a strange clock with dusty electric motors housed in a cupboard that has not worked for years.

The history of the clock goes back to about 1730 when the clock was fitted. It only had one hand because every village kept its own time and it only mattered to the nearest hour. Every village kept its own time. A universal time was only to come in with the advent of the railway and timetables.

The sun dial was there to set the clock.

In the 60’s an automatic winding system was added before this the clock would have been wound daily by one of the estate workers.

The clock face was restored around the year 2000. However around 10 years ago he clock stopped working and the face faded away.

Last week we had the clock restorers up in the tower. They dismantled and cleaned the clock added two new winding mechanisms and have the clock ticking again. There are still some teething problems with the striking mechanism but hopefully this will be resolved soon. Next spring we will remove the clock face and repaint it in its original black and gold livery.

In the mean-time we need to raise some money to fund this. So far we have £5400 in the fund but we require £9000. You can buy 5 minutes for just £15, a quarter hour for £40 or a whole hour for £150. We will run this until the clock face is completed this summer so you could buy a little time each month. Initially you can buy time through me at [email protected] or through the web site at www.stmichaelsgreatoakley.uk/clock/.

Bob Hartley

Treasurer