As some of you will be aware the clock situated in St Denys church tower was bequeathed to the village by Mrs Amelia Money of the Manor Farm.
As some of you will be aware the clock situated in St Denys church tower was bequeathed to the village by Mrs Amelia Money of the Manor Farm, as both a memorial to her family and for the benefit of the inhabitants of Silk Willoughby in October 1903 at the cost of £100 (approx. £16,000 today).
From that period, it has been necessary to call on generations of willing volunteers in order to take on the twice weekly challenge of climbing the churches ancient spiral steps (author included), in order to wind the heavy mechanisms and as necessary to manually adjust the time due to the clocks natural lag characteristic, and also again twice yearly to adjust for Day Light Saving.
Now some 123 years later it is no longer necessary for this valiant human intervention due to a recent Automatic Winding & Time Regulation system upgrade project which, in turn, due to the electromechanical and digital modules, has now made the clock fully autonomous.
Although there was a considerable cost involved in realising this project it was considered worthy when considering the generosity of original benefactor and the clocks importance to the village and no less removing the need for human intervention in order to maintain the clock’s now accurate performance.
Such, on receiving a formal Funding Request Form and after careful consideration, Silk Willoughby Parish Council where happy to allocate the monies from its Solar Farm development funds in support of this valuable community project.
I would take this opportunity to offer a Special thanks to Janet Johnson, Church Warden for her invaluable support in getting the necessary Faculty petition to enable these works to be implemented.
Please be aware that any/all Silk Willoughby residents can make a request to the Parish Council for funds in support of village/community projects via a Funding Request Form. In turn the Parish Council will consider any/all request carefully prior to any decision making.
Cllr Aidan Cooney
Vice Chair
Silk Willoughby Parish Council 11 June 2026