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The one handed clock in Coningsby village is the only one in the country and thought to be the largest in the world. The face is painted directly onto the wall of the 15th century church tower and was probably installed in the 17th century. Its face is 16.5ft in diameter and its hand is nearly 9ft long. It needs winding once a day. The time shown in the photograph is 2.20. The driving weights are large stones and the pendulum is so long that it swings only once every two seconds. The pendulum is not actually attached to the clock either, it is some distance away, linked by a long connecting rod. There are only 3 wheels in the timekeeping mechanism but it keeps excellent time.
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St Michael's Church shows signs of 13th, 14th and 15th century architecture. The west end tower, on which the clock face is painted, is quite unusual because it is on the outside of the building. This makes it one of only two in England built this way. An arched passage is under the tower and this is part of a public footpath through the churchyard to the other side of the village.
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The villages of Coningsby and Tattershall join together and there is nothing to visibly separate the boundaries. We are on the A153, the main road to Skegness. Tattershall is famous for its castle which gets thousands of visitors a year. The castle stands on the River Bain and was founded around 1231. It was rebuilt in 1440, and all that is left standing today (apart from ruins) is its keep at 100ft tall. Standing next to it is Holy Trinity Church, which was converted to a Collegiate Church in 1440, by Lord Ralph Cromwell III, Treasurer of England. It is cruciform in design, 180.5ft long with a transept of 100ft. It is not known exactly when it was built, but the best guess is an early date after the conquest.
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The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is based here at RAF Coningsby and again gets thousands of visitors a year. It maintains a Lancaster, Spitfires, a Dakota and a Hurricane. It is a regular sight for the villagers to see these flying - no comparison to the modern jets. Coningsby was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 under the name of 'Cuningesbi' meaning 'Kings Manor or Village'. The village existed before this though and was probably a Viking settlement. Coningsby and Tattershall were first supplied with gas from a gas house built in 1861. In 1943 however, a Lancaster crashed and destroyed it, but by this time the villages had electricity. Gas was finally brought back in 1989. There are some very interesting sights to see in this area, so if you are passing on your way to the coast, take a couple of hours off driving and have a look. It will be worth it.
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