Cutline (village clock) – Rev. David Butler shows the works of Gorham’s village clock in the tower of the First Parish Church. A file photo

Pull quotes – “The word is priceless.” – Rick Balzer, clockmaker, about the value of Gorham’s village clock.

“It’s a rare thing.” – Rev. David Butler

A rare, restored village clock in Gorham could again toll a church bell and townspeople might even see how the clock works.

An expert said the clock dates to about 1860. It cost $500. Rick Balzer of Balzer Family Clock Works in Freeport said it was never electrified. It has original paint and the clock is remarkable, he said.

“The word is priceless,” Balzer said when asked the clock’s worth today. “How do you put a price on it?”

Although Balzer said the clock is in “pretty darn good shape,” the clock has stopped. The Gorham Town Council has authorized its chairman, Burleigh Loveitt, to develop a proposal for repairing and maintaining the clock.

The town owns the clock works and its hands, but it’s located in the tower of the First Parish Church, which owns the four faces of the clock. Balzer has estimated repairs of the clock at $38,050.

He said the clock needs a cleaning and some small gears, which he called pinions, need replacing because of wear. The years of exposure to humidity in the tower took its toll on the old clock. The elements rusted and pitted some of its steel parts, but brass parts are alright. Restoration would require its works to be removed from the church tower.

Balzer recommends reinstalling the clock to an environmentally friendly spot inside the church. Rev. David Butler of the First Parish Church told the council last week that church hierarchy favored relocating the clockworks inside the church, 85 feet below its present place in the tower.

As part of a restoration, Balzer said he could make and donate the extra components needed to run a shaft up to the clock dials in the tower. He said the church or the town would have to prepare the site, drilling holes, mounting eyelets for pulleys and encasing the clockworks inside the church.

Church members are expected to vote in September on a proposal to relocate the clockworks. If membership approves, Butler said the church would construct a glass case for the works and place it where townspeople could easily view it. “It’s a piece of priceless, historical antiquity,” Butler said. “It’s a rare thing.”

The clock might also be reconnected to the church’s Paul Revere bell. The mechanism that tolled the bell was removed about 25 years ago following complaints from neighbors. Human hands have rung the bell in recent times, summoning parishioners to church services.

Balzer, who looked at the clock in May, said parts that strike the bell are on the floor in the tower. He said it could be attached to once again toll the hour, but he could rig it so it wouldn’t ring at night.

Lynn McInnis of State Street lives nearby and said the tolling would “absolutely” add charm to the village. “I’d love to hear it chime,” she said.

Ruth Ayers of School Street, a neighbor who lives beside the church, is undecided on whether the bell should toll each hour. She said the bell has a nice sound but wondered how many times it would ring.

Ayers thought the cost of the clock restoration sounded high but said they’ve enjoyed seeing in the church tower over the years. “The clock should stay, even if it’s not working,” she said.

Balzer described the clock as gravity, weight-driven. It’s powered by a box of bricks that travels inside a shaft. Over the years, someone has trudged up tower stairs to wind the clock by hand with a crank. Balzer said gravity clocks were first built in Europe in the 1300s and many are still running.

Balzer’s wife, Linda, said the Gorham clock is ready for restoration, but she said the clock had good care in Gorham over the years. “The old timers kept it alive,” she said.

Butler said the clock hasn’t been repaired since the 1930s. He said it needed to be fully restored with worn parts replaced. “The clock is a beautiful object,” he said.

Loveitt hoped for a presentation to the council about the clock restoration in August. Loveitt asked Butler to be prepared to make future speeches. “We’ll wind the reverend up again,” Loveitt said.

Toppan Robie, a leading Gorham citizen in the 1800s, gave the clock to the town.

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