AS CLOCKS go, the one in St Mary’s Chapel in the centre of South Zeal is an unusual one. The man who has the job every few days of winding up the clock, Bill Cann, tells the Times more about it.

‘There are not many clocks like this, says Bill Cann. ‘It is about 200 years old. In fact, it’s two clocks. One is on one side of the building and the other is on the other.’

The two clocks, on both sides of the church, are joined together by the same mechanism, a metal bar which runs through the chapel. They keep time using a series of cogs and wheels attached to a weight in the corner of the building. iven by a mechanism which sees a weight wound up and slowly descend to the floor.

In the time it takes to slowly drop toward the floor, both clocks keep turning. Left alone, it will keep going for seven days – although Bill, the town’s borough councillor, winds it up every two or three days.

‘About seven years ago, the clock was giving us a bit of a problem, it was losing time, and we had somebody come down from the north of England to renovate it,’ said Bill. ‘The parish council and parochial church council donated money. It cost £1,600, and it has been excellent at timekeeping ever since.’

Bill took over clock-winding duties several years ago.

The clock is wound up using a handle, and the winding motion hoists a weight up towards the ceiling. It then slowly descends, driving the intricate cogs and wheels keep both clocks keeping time.

‘I don’t mind a bit,’ he says. ‘I walk down to the shop to get my paper and then I combine it with winding the clock.

‘I do it about two or three times a week to make sure it keeps reasonable time.

‘It is quite a thing really, that clock,’ he said. ‘It’s a marvellous piece of engineering. We get lots of visitors come to see it.’

The chapel itself has an unusual history, with its compact bell turret dating from the late 14th century.

It fell into disrepair after the Reformation and was completely rebuilt in the early 18th century, becoming the village school until 1874, when a purpose-built school was built elsewhere in the village.

It then once again became a chapel once again, and now attracts visitors from far and wide who come to explore this part of Dartmoor.

• Bill?Cann is pictured above winding the clock at?St Mary’s Church.

Picture by James Bird.