World's Oldest Working Mechanical Clock To Be Fitted With Electric Motor

Officials with a British cathedral said a clock that has been wound by hand every week since the late 1380s is being built-in with an electric motor.

Administrators at the Wells Cathedral in Somerset, England, said the clock, which has run endlessly for more than 600 years, is being fitted with an electric motor because they were not capable to find a suitable replacement for retiring winder Paul Fisher, 63, whose family has performed the job for more than 100 years.

"Mr. Fisher's leaving is a souvenir that we are responsible for caring for the cathedral and other spiritual and heritage resources for this and future generations to come," said Paul Richards, an administrator at the cathedral.

The clock, supposed to be the world's oldest working mechanical clock, will be hand-wound for the last time Saturday morning, officials said.