Church of St. Mary Magdalen, Billericay
“Britain
celebrated Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, with the erection of
clocks on public buildings and churches. Billericay citizens contributed to
a subscription fund, the balance of which came from parish purse. Now our
fine, large clock has hung from St Mary’s for 110 years and is maintained by
Basildon Council.” This is a quote from Sylvia Kent, in her new booklet
written about St Mary Magdalen church* to celebrate the completion of the
first phase of the redevelopment work.
When the Jubilee Clock stopped chiming at the end of 2006 the St Mary Magdalen Development Group asked Basildon Council to investigate. Smith of Derby, who cares for the clock on behalf of Basildon District Council, came to investigate but was unable to carry out any works early in the year as they needed good weather conditions. In May temporary scaffolding was erected to reach the clock and an engineer from Smith of Derby came to carry out various works, including investigating why the clock was not chiming.
The clock was thoroughly cleaned and the hands of the clock were removed and taken back to Derby for more thorough cleaning than could be done on site. However during this refurbishment it became apparent that the condition of the clock was worse than originally thought and to return the clock to a satisfactory condition it would be necessary to remove it and carry out the refurbishment at a workshop in Derby. This removal is going to entail the use of a crane and it will be necessary to close the High Street to ensure the safety of the public in late September.
This will be the first time the clock has ever been moved since it was erected and the event will become part of history itself, and when the clock is ready to come home the High Street will have to be closed again.
*Sylvia Kent’s booklet about St Mary Magdalen can be bought in St Mary Magdalen church or in many of the other churches in the town or in Storyteller bookshop and only costs £2.
Copy Dates for "Resident"
If readers wish to advertise an event or have an article printed in the newsletter the following gives dates by which copy should be received by the editor – Trevor Stansfield, 174 Perry Street CM12 0NX or e-mail Tremar@aol.com:
February issue copy by 15 January, March issue by 15 February, April issue by 15 March, May issue copy by 15 April, June issue by 15 May, July/August issue by 15 June, September issue by 15 August, October issue by 15 September, November issue by 15 October. December/January issue by 15 November, February issue by 15 January.
If an event is to be held before the 10th of the month then, to ensure circulation, the advertisement should be included in the previous month’s issue e.g. an event taking place on 3 May should be advertised in the April issue. Similarly if an event is scheduled for 3 September then the advertisement should appear in the July issue.