Time restarts at Wakefield Cathedral

Time may have been put on pause for many of us this year, but for Wakefield Cathedral it literally stopped after the city centre landmark’s ancient mechanical clock decided to break in lockdown.

Good news after time (literally) restarts for Wakefield Cathedral.

Exploratory work discovered it needed a whole new mechanism – so that job ended up on the Cathedral’s to-do list until last week when it finally started working again, after generous contributions from the congregation and a grant from Wakefield Bid helped bring the ancient clock into the 21st century with new digitised workings.

The Dean of Wakefield, the Very Revd Simon Cowling, said:

“The broken clock at Wakefield Cathedral symbolised the situation across the city, district and nation throughout the past twelve months….

“The repairs come at a most appropriate time and we hope that many will find solace that the hands of our clock are moving once again.

“A working clock reminds us we can always find a way to move forward, even out of the most challenging circumstances.”

The repairs to the clock cost around £2,000, with money being raised from the congregation alongside a £500 grant given from Wakefield BID.