One of the UK’s last remaining timeballs should finally start marking time after being lifted back into place on top of Hull’s Guildhall.

Timeballs were used by the Ancient Greeks and by mariners in days gone by to set their instruments. Hull’s time-keeping device, which travels up a mast and drops down at Greenwich Mean Time, had been out of use for a century when it was restored in a £400,000 project in 2023.

However it broke down in March 2025.

Paul Litchfield, from Smith of Derby, said due to its “bespoke design and complex levitation system, diagnosing and resolving the issue required detailed expertise and specially manufactured components”.

Lowgate will be closed on August 1 when a crane will lift it into place. Commissioning will take place to ensure it is working properly. The work was carried out at no extra cost to the taxpayer.