World's oldest mechanical clock "to be wound by hand for last time"

The world's oldest working mechanical clock is to be fitted with an electric motor for the first time after being wound by hand every week for more than 600 years. The mechanism on the Clock, at Wells Cathedral in Somerset, will be set manually for the last time next week, following the retirement of the last member of a family who has maintained it for almost a century.

Experts say the clock, which tracks the sun across the sky and records the stages of the moon, is a marvel of medieval craftsmanship. Over the past 90 years the clock, the world's oldest continually-working mechanical timepiece, has been wound by five different generations of the Fisher family.

Since 1987, Paul Fisher has been undertaking the exhausting task of spending an hour, three times a week, turning the three 250kg weights about 800 times. But on Thursday the horologist, 63, announced his retirement as the official “Keeper of the Great Clock of Wells”.

“I'm a bit sad that all these years of history are coming to an end but winding the clock by hand is just so time consuming,” said Mr Fisher, who is also retiring from the family jewellery business.

"I feel very proud and privileged to have wound this magnificent clock and that my family has been involved in such a historic task.”

While he will keep a “watchful eye” on it, his decision will mean that from Monday it will instead be powered by an automatic electric motor.

Mr Fisher’s family took over responsibility in 1919 after his grandfather, Leo Fisher, returned from First World War service. Leo Fisher’s sons, Ken and Toni, continued the tradition in 1935 before his daughters, Ruth and Mary, took over during the Second World War.

It then fell to Mr Fisher, who has shared the task with his son Mark, 39, and his four grandchildren, who were paid a nominal fee for their duties.

Mark Fisher admitted it was a “real shame” his business commitments meant he could not continue the tradition.

"My father is retiring and it's quite an involved job so it's physically impossible for me to run the shop and look after the clock at the same time,” he said.

The timepiece, installed in the late 1380s, is dated to around the same time as the Salisbury Cathedral clock, Wilts, which is widely perceived as the world's oldest timer but has not run continually since it was built and does not have a dial.

It has been replaced twice, most recently in 1880, but the clock’s face and figures clock date from the 14th Century. The weights, which are winched up on a pulley system, power the clock as they descend over the next two days. The astronomical clock, situated in the cathedral's triforium, has a 24-hour dial and shows both the time and the phases of the moon in front of a background of stars.

Above it is a figure, “Jack Blandifers”, who hits the bells on the hour with a hammer and his heels, while a pair of knights chase each other above the dial every 15 minutes.

Wells Cathedral officials said the mechanical clock was being replaced because they were unable to find a suitable replacement for Mr Fisher. Administrator Paul Richards said: "Mr Fisher's leaving is a reminder that we are responsible for caring for the Cathedral and other spiritual and heritage treasures for this and future generations to come."

It will be wound for the last time at 9.30am on Saturday while the electronic motor will be funded by the Friends of the Wells Cathedral.


/Telegraph.co.uk/