ROWLEY — A 19th century grandfather clock is keeping time again at Town Hall, thanks to a gift from an anonymous benefactor who donated the money necessary to fix the impressive timepiece.
The clock sat motionless for years before an unknown resident contacted Robert Cianfrocca of Salt Marsh Antiques about restoring it. Cianfrocca says the $3,000-plus restoration was performed by Bruce Hamilton Restoration in West Newbury, who deals exclusively with antiques and fine restorations, and who worked to bring out the clocks' existing finish and unique detailing.
"You work with the existing finish," Cianfrocca said. "You don't strip, sand and refinish. You just bring the finish back, which is there."
The timepiece itself was sent out to a clock repairman, but Cianfrocca said that wasn't the toughest part of the restoration.
"The major work was done on the case itself, which hadn't had any tender loving care, it seemed like its whole life," Cianfrocca said. "It just needed to be cleaned and oiled."
Cianfrocca was careful to maintain the anonymity of the donor responsible for the restoration, stating only that the donor had noticed the clock at Town Hall and realized the town didn't have the money to restore it properly.
"There are some things in town that the town doesn't have enough money to do," Cianfrocca said. "But everyone goes into the selectmen's office regularly. The clock needed to be done, and somebody thought they would fix it."
Cianfrocca said he was approached by the donor because he's established a "niche" with the townspeople through his antiques market on Main Street and said he truly enjoyed working on this particular project.
"It was a pleasure working with my benefactor, and hopefully there will be more surprises for the town to come," Cianfrocca said.
