I won’t say I am an expert on clocks, but I do appreciate the engineering that goes on inside one. Many years ago I used to work for Transnet in Germiston and I was responsible for the very decrepit station clock; I was not amused.
This short photo essay really starts out about an old clock in Tewkesbury, and then heads off on a tangent all of its own.
Situated on the outside of what is now a funeral directors, the clock is mounted on an elaborate bracket that sticks out into high street.
I have seen a number of similar clocks in the towns and cities I have visited in the UK, and way back then a public clock would have been very useful to townsfolk that did not have the convenience of a wrist watch or cell phone with which to tell time.
Age? in this we are lucky because affixed to the side of the clock is a small sign.
Does it still work? yes it does; because a bit further up high street is the clock above the Town Hall. Although this image was not taken today, the time on the clock above was the same as that below.
A bit higher up in town there is a nice clock on top of the Library. I do not know how many times I have walked past the building and never really noticed it before.
Clocks elsewhere.
There is a very nice public clock on the House of Fraser in King William Street, London
and a station clock in Victoria Station.
and Waterloo Station.
Somewhere in London, St Paul’s is in the background and I was in the Bank area, so it is somewhere there.
I photographed this beaut in Birmingham, and as a bonus it has the 3 balls that indicate a pawnbroker.
Now, about those other time pieces: many towns had clocks in towers, and many are loosely based on Big Ben in London.
Salisbury had one on the outskirts of the town centre in Fisherton Street, and it is a very interesting structure.
On the side of the small structure at the base of the tower were two indicators of what used to stand on that site before.
At the time I did a double take because that was not the sort of thing you expected to see on a building. However, on the other side of the structure, and half covered by foliage is another sign that explains why the image below was there.
I rest my case. Unfortunately, the placing of this plaque means that unless you are lucky you would never know what secret this part of the town was used for in days gone by. The proximity to the river would have made that gaol a damp and miserable place to be locked into.
There is a really nice clock tower in Worcester, although it is not in the centre of town.
Lichfield also has one of the grand clock towers, and one day I made a quick trip to it to see what it was like up close and personal.
There are two plaques that can date this structure.
The Crucifix Conduit? In St John Street, next to the Library is a water fountain that may provide a clue.
The filenames of the Lichfield images are all marked “Birmingham” and that is where we will head to now; because there is another clock tower of interest in that city. Called “The Chamberlain Clock”, it was unveiled during Joseph Chamberlain’s lifetime, in January 1904.
This clock ties into South Africa and Joseph Chamberlain, and it is worth reading the article about how Joseph Chamberlain and Alfred Milner helped to drag South Africa and Great Britain into a long and costly war that devastated the country; and created rifts that would never heal. “Chamberlain visited South Africa between 26 December 1902 and 25 February 1903, seeking to promote Anglo-Afrikaner conciliation and the colonial contribution to the British Empire, and trying to meet people in the newly unified South Africa, including those who had recently been enemies during the Boer War” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Chamberlain#Tour_of_South_Africa)
He is buried in nearby Key HIll Cemetery
Heading back South again we are suddenly back in Southampton, and another clock tower of interest, although it is more of a monument than a dedicated clock tower. This clock is no longer where it was originally erected,
The monument was designed by Kelway-Pope and bequeathed to Southampton by the late, Mrs Henrietta Bellenden Sayers, After 45 years in its original location in Above Bar it was then moved to its present site in 1934 when roadworks were being carried out in the city centre.
There are two plaques on the clock, as well as a small drinking fountain. The first plaque dates from when it was inaugurated,
while the second is above the drinking fountain.
The clock is situated on a triangular island at the east end of Cobden Bridge in Bitterne, between St Deny’s Road and Manor Farm Road (Google Earth 50.924432°, -1.376106°) .
Southampton still has a clock tower in its City Hall, but I really prefer the one above.
While living in Southampton I attended a job interview in Surbiton, and it was there where I spotted the Coronation Clock.
I did not really investigate the structure, but did manage a photograph of the plaque.
More information about the Coronation Clock many be found at http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/art/architecture/johnsonj/4.html
The seaside town of Weymouth has a clock tower too, although again I did not really investigate it as I had limited time available.
Known as the Jubliee Clock, it was erected in commemoration of the reign of Queen Victoria in 1887. Originally positioned on a stone base on Weymouth sands, in the 1920s the Esplanade was built around it to protect the sands from the encroachment of shingle from the eastern end of the beach. The clock is a Grade II listed building.
Bath Abbey has a clock in the Spire that we saw from inside, I seem to recall it faced the municipal offices.
It really reminded me of those days when I used to fix that clock on Germiston Station, although I am sure that the Abbey clock was less decrepit than the Germiston Station clock.
And having said all that I shall now head off into the sunset. I am fortunate to have seen these buildings with their clocks and plaques. Generally they are ornate structures, and many are very old and have acquired listed status. Yet, in our modern world they are anacronisms from a different age. We are all so tied up in our plastic devices that can do almost anything, that we miss the beauty right under our noses.
I am sure as I wade through my images of London I will find more clocks and towers to add to here, after all. I still have to consider the mother of them all…
But that’s another story for another time.
© DRW 2013-2018. Created 22/01/2017
