Clock Restoration

For those who are avid fans of ‘The Repair Shop’ this is the project for you. The clock in the St Andrew’s tower dates back to the early/mid 1800s and although it saw good service during its time it probably has not been active for about 15 years and it is definitely in need of a bit of TLC. None better than the Cumbria Clock Company to take on this task, who as the name would suggest are very distant from Bradfield. However, they do have a relatively local expert in the form of Bournemouth-based Peter Hyde, who we spoke with about the restoration.

According to Peter, the St Andrew’s clock is actually in reasonable condition however will require a decent amount of cleaning, a small amount of mechanical repair and a complete re-sprucing of the dial which will be sand-blasted back to bare metal prior to being repainted in gold leaf with copper hands affixed.

Now as you can imagine removing something as large as a church clock from its tower is not a simple process and if you like 3D puzzles this would be a joy. It requires the clock to be disassembled in-situ, the smaller pieces taken down the tower internally and the large ones lowered down externally and reassembled prior to transportation. The key thing is for pieces not to become lost and reassembly ensures this to be the case. The clock, once restored, is reassembled in the workshop to check functionality, transported as a whole, then disassembled on site, prior to all the pieces being lifted up the tower and re-assembled again.

Clock building and repair requires a very traditional skill set. There are elements of the restoration process that will use modern methods to aid the process – 3d printers are used to create prototypes for fittings that will then be created using traditional methods, however equally the team use a wheel cutting machine that itself was made in the 1700s. Peter was brought into the trade 20 years ago. He studied mechanical engineering at university but decided that it wasn’t for him and decided instead to stick to something that was in his blood and joined his Uncle in his clock building company and the rest, as they say, is history. The trade is very specialised and those with the specific skillsets required are dwindling, however the company are keen to keep the knowledge alive, offering work experience and placements to university students and pupils. Any pupils interested in a potential work placement should contact the Horizon’s department on horizons@bradfieldcollege.org.uk

The restoration process will take a few months but the restorers need to tie in with the main contractor regarding the re-installation to ensure that the scaffolding – which might damage the dial in its return journey up the tower – has been removed. The moment that everyone can finally breathe again is when the dial has made it up its external hoist and is in situ once more. We look forward to that time when it comes.

For other updates on the progress of the St Andrew’s Project visit the St Andrew’s Project webpage.