Restoration of Minster Church Clock Face

The church of St. Marys-in-Thanet Minster is believed to date from Saxon times and plays an important part in the life of Minster Village and the surrounding area. It is a Grade 1 listed building and sits next to Minster Abbey which was established following the landing of St. Augustine at Ebbsfleet nearby in 670AD.

In the 1860s the church underwent a major renovation including the clock and its face. There is a date of 1870 on the current clock face. The clock mechanism was overhauled in the 1920s and Minster Parish Council have agreed to take over the maintenance recently. The ravages of time have had a serious effect on the clock face itself and it is now in dire need of restoration.

Photographs by Nik Mitchell

We know that the church clock face was present in 1790 as JMW Turner painted the church as a 14 year old prior to entering the Royal Academy of Art.

The restoration of the clock face is a very specialised expensive process and involves skillful work in its removal and replacement. Therefore a small group of villagers John Quittenden, Derek Crow-Brown, Alan Gimes and Sue Hergest have come together in an effort to raise the sum of £15000. in order that this clock face can be restored to its former glory at the heart of the village.