Gordon Schools Huntly -1841 Victorian Clock Restored

Gordon Schools, Huntly, originally uploaded by FotoFling Scotland.

A clock that has ticked away for almost two centuries at Huntly has had a £4,000 renovation by the firm that made the timekeeping landmark.

Craftsmen from leading clockmaker James Ritchie and Son, of Edinburgh, have just completed restoration of the Gordon Schools’ clock that the company installed in 1841. It was put in place the year the school, which was designed by prominent Aberdeen architect Archibald Simpson, opened.

Housed in the tower of the school’s archway, the clock has served generations of pupils and ticked on through the town’s transformation and growth from Victorian times.

The clock’s dials and hands have been fully renovated, numerals renewed with gold leaf, and an electronic control fitted so the original mechanism now strikes each hour without any need for manual adjustment.

Town clocks throughout Aberdeenshire received only basic servicing in the past, but two years ago Aberdeenshire Council decided to improve their reliability by asking the Edinburgh firm to provide a detailed report on all clocks in its care.

The Huntly clock was cared for by a local watchmaker, who regularly climbed ladders into the tower to adjust the mechanism and wind its weights each week, but later stopped working for several years.

Historic Scotland had to give the go-ahead for the Huntly clock to be removed from the category A listed tower last December to be overhauled.

Last July the clock at the town’s Stewart’s Hall was also refurbished under the renewal programme. Council infrastructure services committee chairman Peter Argyle saw experts put the finishing touches to the school clock. He said: “The workmanship that has gone into the renovation will ensure that an important part of Huntly’s history now keeps ticking on for many more years.”

James Ritchie and Son’s experts have brought new electronic technology to many public clocks around the country.

Its team still winds many traditional clocks along the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, while also keeping time in the city with the Carlton Hill time ball that goes off at the same time as the daily one o’ clock gun at Edinburgh Castle.

Company managing director Alan Wilson said yesterday: “When we were approached to restore the Huntly school clock we thought it was very fitting, as it is an original 19th-century Ritchie’s clock and we celebrate our 200th birthday this year.

Aberdeen Press & Journal