People may have noticed that the Totnes St. Mary's Church clock has stopped and is not giving us its usual quarterly ‘Westminster’ chimes.

This is because one of the drive chains on the automatic winding gear which was fitted in the year 2000 has become disengaged from its sprocket as a result of wear.

Clock Keeper Robert Seymour aka Bob The Clock said: “A repair is in hand, and the familiar quarter chimes hour strike will return.

“The repair will be carried out by the Cumbria Clock Company.”

The clock was installed to commemorate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 and is housed in the bell ringing chamber.

It replaced the original clock by Phillip Brockendon which goes back to 1798.

The jubilee clock was bought with money raised by public subscription and obtained on behalf of Totnes Town Council by local clockmaker S C Burrow

from Messrs Sainsbury Bros clockmakers at Walthamstow in east London and cost £110.

It is unusual in that it doesn’t have an external dial on the church tower but when operating chimes every quarter of an hour replicating London’s Big Ben and using the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th bells.

The hour is struck on the Tenor Number 8 Bell.

The bell was originally started by former Mayor H Symons in the presence of the Vicar the Reverend J W Burrough.

The Reverend, after examining the workings of the clock said he didn’t ‘profess to be a competent judge of such things, but from what he could see it appeared to be well executed.

The clock originally operated with three heavy weights which were fully wound up but an electric winding system was installed in 1999.

The clock is accurate to within 10 seconds in seven days.