The Return of Seal Church Clock

13 August 2025

Well we are just wondering if we’ve cracked it? The clock has been running a month or more and with no problem other than a little time keeping problems – it was gaining about 30 seconds a day. With some help from Gillet and Johnson we now know how to adjust the clock to speed it up or slow it down a little – we’ve slowed it and it is within 5 seconds a day. We’re keeping an eye but letting it settle down as the warm weather can affect it 5 seconds a day. Nearly there everyone. Thanks for your patience we really appreciate it

30 June 2025

Well, the clock worked for about 3 weeks without the hands moving but last weekend it stopped again! We’ve had the engineers back today and they have regreased everything, and reconnected the hands.
And its struck 4pm and 5pm and so at the time of writing, 5.30pm is all OK! We’ll keep an eye on it …. Thanks and sorry its taking so long to fix totally.

27 May 2025

Gillett and Johnson came back again as the clock had stopped for the 3rd of 4th time. Each time they come they make changes but for such an old clock its hard to be sure when its fixed and seems to go a week or more and then stop. Frustrating. Today they have disconnected the hands but left the clock inside working to try to see if its the clock mechanism itself or the hands that are stopping. So at the moment its running but the time is wrong outside but not inside – and it should keep chiming! We’ll keep you posted what happens next …

January 2025

At last … after over 2 years of being out of action, much to the frustration of the Congregation and also most of Seal, the Church Clock is back …

Gillet and Johnston took the clock away in November – no mean feat in its own right as it meant taking it completely apart, carrying it down the narrow tower stairs and then whisking it away to their repair rooms. At the same time we discovered that the floor under the clock was rotten and so in a rush got <x> to replace a number of floor boards ready for the clocks return.

Over the 3 days 7, 8, and 9 January 2025 Gillet and Johntson, in the form of Barry (who has serviced the clock for years) and Shane, came back with the refurbished clock all in parts and lugged it back up the same steep stairs (that took a day after which Barry said he’d had enough) and re-assembled it.

There were some hiccups on the way (several parts were not quite right, needed repair and so they had to take them back back to the repair rooms but they returned with them each time, mended the same day) and then completed the assembly, including the chiming mechanism, and then set it up so that it kept time replacing the old (but wonderful old pennies on a balance) with some easier to use screw-weights on the pendulum. We need to find someone small and agile to get to them mind …

Then they spent time to show us what needed to be done to maintain it and keep it in time. Paul was kept very busy keeping notes and photos and videos.

In all the clock was a major expenditure and project. We’d like to thank all those who so generously contributed to the cost of repair and and especially thanks to Paul who oversaw the entire project, from when it broke down, getting the approval from the diocese to proceed, raising funds and then the removal and re-assembly.

One of the reasons that it took so long was the red tape. It took considerable effort to get Diocesan approval to repair the clock using the firm that has serviced the clock for years, Gillet and Johnston who are one of a very few remaining clock repairers in the country. And then of course we had to wait until they were were ready to repair it – they’ve quite a queue of work … thank you everyone in Seal and everyone who contributed to the repair and to everyone else who missed it for your patience. We are so delighted it is back

A huge amount of effort under the covers went on to get this project done. Thank you, Paul.

A few photos below are just a small reminder of all that happened as the clock came back …

And at last you can hear it chime again … it was a windy day as you can hear it chime for midday … press “play” below.

Here are a few photos …

And if you wondered what the view from the top of the tower was like …