Farnham's 350-year-old parish church clock is back. After weeks away in the workshops of the specialist Cumbria Clock Company, the heritage timepiece was replaced in St. Andrew's church tower, while steeplejacks abseiled from the top to put the hands back on the familiar blue clock face.

But those hands will not be telling the time until the official "Start the Clock Ceremony" on the afternoon of Wednesday September 4, when it is hoped that West Street watchmaker, Richard Marshall, who looked after the clock over many years, will do the honours and the Archdeacon of Surrey (the Ven. Bob Reiss) will attend.

David Latter, chairman of the Friends of St. Andrew's (FoStA) who undertook the restoration of the clock as the first major project in their support of the church as a heritage building and a town centre place of worship, is delighted at this successful outcome to months of planning, organisation and fund-raising.

Some three years ago, the clock was dismantled to make way for two extra bells and the repositioning of the new bell frame.

"A short while after this, the committee of the Friends of St. Andrew's began to consider what projects it might undertake with regard to the fabric of the church and it was decided to have a go at restoring the clock," Mr. Latter explains.

"It soon became apparent that a repair to get it going again was not at all what was wanted; rather, a radical restoration was needed, to put the clock back to its 17th century origins.

'This was a tall order, but with the help and support of the diocesan horological adviser, the committee decided to go ahead. Estimates were obtained and that from the Cumbria Clock Company accepted; it was for a sum just short of £10,000 - a lot of money, but well worth while."

The Friends of St. Andrew's were able to contribute, from money raised and donations, over one-third of this sum. Applications for grants were made and the Archbishop's Fund for the Care of Churches, the SITA Landfill Partnership and Waverley Borough Council, all of whom responded generously.

The parish church clock is an important horological item, in respect of its age, its design and its construction.

Its date has been put at about 1650 by the Cumbria Clock Company. It is of what is called an end-to-end birdcage design: the movement and the drive for the striking mechanism are placed end-to-end rather than side-by-side.

And the clock was built to a very high standard - for instance, marks on the frame show that the steel was brought over from Sweden; clearly the builder wanted to get the best material he could find.

It took steeplejacks Chris Silverston and Jason Porter rather less time - just half an hour - to scale the tower and re-fix the hands.