Clock weights plunge into cellar

PART of the historic clock at Royton Town Hall has plunged into the building’s cellar.

The heavy weights of the 1881 timepiece were embedded in the concrete floor by the fall — though were contained inside a wooden casing that runs from the tower to the cellar. No one was injured.

The lines securing the weights are believed to have been replaced recently as a precaution – at the cost of nearly £1,000 – following an assessment of the clock that revealed no record of the age of the existing lines.

The company responsible for replacing the lines will investigate what happened. 

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