Church clock will stop without urgent repairs

Parishioners are fundraising to stop their village church clock from falling silent.

The three-faced mechanical clock and chimes of St John the Baptist Church in Hugglescote, Leicestershire, were installed in 1896 by Smiths of Derby, which has maintained the mechanisms ever since.

But clockwinder Chris Gooch said that their recent inspections had found issues with misaligned pulleys inside the clock that need to be repaired or replaced.

Without work being carried out, Gooch said the clock would become "too dangerous for the weights to be used".

Replacing the parts inside the Grade II*-listed clock tower is estimated to cost about £7,000, said Gooch, while an upgrade to an electric winding mechanism would cost about £10,000.

So far, about £2,000 was raised with an open-church event and cake sale in May, while a further £1,000 has been donated online.

Gooch added: "The clock is very much a community feature. It's on the top of the oldest road in the area, Dennis Street, so it's quite visible from quite a bit of the village and also the new houses that are being built.

"But if we don't have the work done, then the clock will stop."

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