A UNIQUE piece of British engineering created by a Suffolk clockmaker has been lovingly restored by his son and grandson.

Father-and-son team Ian and Jack Haward run Haward Horological in Swilland and come from a long line of clockmakers

The business was set up by Ian’s father Peter in 1975, who nearly a decade earlier designed a famous animated clock for Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly.

The remarkable feat of engineering features 4ft tall mechanical figures of founders William Fortnum and Hugh Mason, which roll out as the clock strikes the hour.

Ian Haward, 60, of Mill Lane in Felixstowe, said: “My father made virtually the whole thing – he designed it and made all the mechanics for it. He worked for a company called Thwaites and Reed in Clerkenwell and they were commissioned to do something for Fortnum’s.

“They were given an outline of what they wanted then my father made it and got the figures cast and designed all the mechanics of it.

“There’s no other like it – it’s a one-off and it’s very complicated. It’s probably one of the best known clocks in London, after Big Ben.”

The clock has functioned faithfully since November 4, 1964, but was in need of a complete restoration in time for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee next year.

Ian and Jack, 23, spent three months bringing the clock back to its original condition, including eight days of painting, seven days to apply more than 450 pages of 23.5 carat gold leaf to the casing, adding three new glass dials, and repairing the 16 bells and 32 hammers.