£4,000 needed to refurbish

Parishioners at Rattray Parish Church have launched an appeal in the hope of raising more than £4,000 to refurbish their beloved clock.

The clock on the tower of Rattray Parish Church has kept time for 195 years but time has literally taken its toll on the antique, which was last refurbished nearly 40 years ago by one of the then church office-bearers.

Made by Parr of Grantham in 1814 and installed in the church tower around seven years later, the clock has helped to ensure Rattray residents made it to work on time, home in time for tea, and to church every Sunday for nearly two centuries.

Church elders say that although the clock is currently still in working order, many of the intricate parts of the mechanism are worn and in need of replacement.

In addition, the clock still has to be manually wound three times a week, which can only be done by climbing up inside the tower on two steep ladders with no handrails, so church elders are keen to adapt the mechanism so that it re-winds itself electronically.

It is also proposed to silence the chimes between 11pm and 8am.

Minister at the kirk, Rev Linda Stewart, explained: “A clock specialist from Edinburgh, H E Weir, has inspected it and was impressed with its quality, believing it to be well worth repairing.

“However, it will have to be taken to Edinburgh for the repair work and some new parts will have to be specially made. The cost to repair and automate the clock is estimated to be in the region of over £4,000, but as we are a church, contributions can be treated as Gift Aid, boosting donations from tax payers by 25%.

“It would be fantastic to ensure that our church clock chimes the hours for many years to come yet”

The previous restoration in 1978 was painstakingly carried out by a church elder Murray Douglas, who undertook the extensive and challenging repairs in his house at Tantallon in Rattray.

Murray Douglas’ son Ian, an elder of the church himself now, said that it would be “quite challenging to get the clock out of the tower” although his father had managed it, removing each component down the two ladders and to his wo consuming e

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