The hands have finally have been reinstated on St Peter’s Church clocks in Sudbury, much to the delight of visitors to the town.
But people who live close to the historic Market Hill building are nowhere near as pleased.
That is because since refurbishment work was carried out to get the four faces working again, the clock chimes have started going off daily at 6am and every 15 minutes after that - disturbing the sleep of those who live within earshot.
Robert Stevens, who was staying with friends nearby said: “While it’s lovely to hear traditional clock chimes, 6am is a little early and when they strike every 15 minutes, it’s a bit like too much of a good thing.”
For many years, the clocks ran out of sync and all showed different times. Recently only two had the correct time, while the others had stopped completely. The chimes sometimes rang 13 times instead of 12.
The hands were taken away before Christmas to enable refurbishment, renovation and regilding, but the project was curtailed due to bad weather and illness. Since they were returned last month, one of the clock faces has been stuck on midday.
Sudbury Town Council’s finance committee is splitting the repair bill with the Friends of St Peter’s group to get the work done as cost-effectively as possible.
In a recent newsletter, chair of the Friends group Roger Green, said: “We are pleased to welcome back the hands of the town clock, newly gilded.
“But the return of the clock has not pleased everyone though because the chimes have been going off at 6am and every fifteen minutes thereafter.
“The town council, which is responsible for the clock, has called in the contractors to make the necessary alterations.
“Work still to be done includes the replacement of slave motors to get all four faces synchronised and then we await a suitably lengthy spell of fine weather during which the gilding of the clock faces will take place.”
He added: “After many years of problems it seems the clock will soon be back in full working order and gleaming like new.”
Work on the clocks is being undertaken in memory of the late Tony Wheeler, a local historian who left a £3milion legacy to local charities when he died in June 2012, including the Friends of St Peter’s.
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