The refurbished and enhanced Alresford Markets clock at The Swan Hotel in West Street was unveiled by deputy town mayor Cllr Angela Clear on December 15.

She did it in a novel way by tapping the clock with a ceremonial staff of the Bailiffs of Alresford, who ran the town until the Reform Acts of 1882.

In her speech Cllr Clear referred to the Alresford Markets, which have enhanced the activities of the town for more than 800 years, dating back to the reign of King John of Magna Carta fame.

She praised the hard work of the New Alresford Town Trust trustees, whose activities for the charity include running the markets and fairs and continuing the town’s ancient rights.

Cllr Clear noted the clock’s enhanced look and was sure that it would last well into the middle of the century, and was a great reminder of Alresford as a market town. The cost of the refurbishment was £3,000.

After the speech Cllr Clear visited and spoke to each of the stallholders, who appear each Thursday in Broad Street, and said she appreciated the added value of the market to the town’s infrastructure.

Robin Atkins, chair of the New Alresford Town Trust, thanked the deputy mayor for performing the unusual ceremony and informed the gathering that it was his last official act as chair. He handed over the role to trustee Vanessa Andrews on New Year’s Day.