Fife master clockmaker set to be recognised with blue plaque
A master clockmaker is set to be recognised in Pittenweem with plans revealed for a blue plaque outside his former home.
John Smith lived and worked at 19-21 High Street in the village from around the 1770s until his death in 1814.
The Pittenweem Community Library and Information Centre has applied for listed building consent to install the commemorative plaque at 19a High Street.
A planning statement submitted to Fife Council said Smith was “internationally recognised as an exceptionally fine clockmaker”.
It explained: “John Smith was an outstanding master clockmaker whose reputation for designing and crafting innovative kinetic and musical timepieces of the highest quality was recognised during his lifetime and has flourished in the years since.
“His works are now in major collections at home and overseas, including the Royal Collection.
“Throughout his working life Smith lived and worked in the relative remoteness of Pittenweem, on the site of what is now 19 High Street.
“Given the interest in his life and work– and continuing the practice of memorialising prominent ‘Pittenweemers’ with blue plaques – it is therefore now proposed to mark and commemorate Smith with a plaque at the location of his home and workshop for the benefit of residents and visitors to the town.”
There are already three blue plaques mounted on buildings in Pittenweem which commemorate fisherman and artist, James More Horsburgh, ‘Father of the University of Adelaide’ Walter Watson Hughes and artist John McGhie.
If permitted, the new plaque will follow the same format with the proposed wording being “JOHN SMITH fl. 1770– 1814 clockmaker lived and worked here”.
The wording will be set beneath a 3D cast of the Royal Burgh of Pittenweem crest and bordered beneath by the words “Royal Burgh of Pittenweem and District Community Council”.
The application will be considered by Fife Council in due course.