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Town's 347-year-old clock to chime again

Clare Wordenin Watton
News imageClare Worden/BBC View of the Watton clock tower on Watton high street. The two story fort-like building is topped by an ornate cupola and on it a silver weather vane. Next to it is a Euronics shop and a Coral betting shop. Clare Worden/BBC
Structural problems in the tower need to be addressed before the clock can be repaired, the council says

A council has pledged to repair a town's 347-year-old clock which has not chimed in a decade.

Jack White, a councillor on Watton Town Council, said the process was "under way" to restore the tower and clock on the town's High Street in Norfolk, which were built in 1679.

More than £20,000 has been spent on servicing and repairing the clock in the past 15 years, said resident Sandra Osborn, who has been calling for the restoration.

Sarah Humphries, the town's mayor, said: "[The clock is] a fundamental part of our history... we have the responsibility to restore that heritage and bring that back."

The clock tower is Grade II listed and was initially built to house a bell to warn the town of fire and other hazards.

The town council did not give a timeline for when the work to the tower and clock would be completed, but it said it would be back in action "as soon as possible".

News imageClare Worden/BBC A woman and a man stand in front of the Watton clock tower. The woman is wearing a brown hat and a navy waxed jacket. She is wearing a necklace of gold medallions as she is the town mayor. The man next to her is wearing a blue zip-up top and glasses. Clare Worden/BBC
Members of the town council have pledged to make the repairs "as soon as possible"

Osborn, who lives in Watton, said she has been inside the tower with her husband who used to help to maintain it when he was a town councillor.

"I love clocks. I love the mechanism of clocks, and I just love them.

"Not only that, I love the buildings of the actual clock tower," she said.

Osborn said she has recorded what work has been done on the clock and tower and wanted the town council to do more repairs.

"I would just love to see it going again and I hope that will be going in my lifetime," she said.

News imageClare Worden/BBC Sandra Osborn stands in front of two heavy black doors at the bottom of Watton's clock tower. She is wearing a white jacket and blue t-shirt. Her hair is white and cut into a bob. Clare Worden/BBC
Sandra Osborn hopes the work is done "in her lifetime" and the clock chimes again

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Currently the tower is being used to store materials needed to run Watton's weekly market.

Humphries said the council was committed to repairing the tower which will then make a repair of the clock possible.

White said that work was already under way, adding: "We have to go through a specialist way of doing it.

"Sometimes there needs to be planning and we have to use certain materials.

"We are using heritage builders who can come in and restore it back to its original settings."

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