East Markham St John the Baptist

Clock

Clock dial Clock mechanism

The church clock is a flat-bed cast iron frame with striking and going trains, bronze wheels and pin-wheel escapement. The church clock was manufactured and installed in 1924 by J Smith & Sons, Midland Clock Works, Derby, England. It was donated by W. T. Hopps of Leamington.

The time and strike mechanisms originally had a set of weights which required winding approximately every six days. An automatic winder on the time train and an electric direct drive on the strike train were installed in the 1980's. The single blue dial with its gilded numbers is on the northern side of the tower.

In 2012 the Parochial Church Council decided that the face needed restoration and Time Assured of Mansfield undertook the work. The firm found that the dial was cast iron and its diameter was 6 feet. No maker's name was visible. The bespoke hour and minute hands were produced by a small firm in Retford. As the clock mechanism is in the north-eastern corner of the ringing chamber the connecting gearing from the clock to the dial on the outside of the tower presumably were supplied by Smiths. The clock strikes the hour and has no cut-off or silencing mechanism.