Dufftown Clock Tower is a stone tower with a clock at the crossroads in the centre of Dufftown,

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...

, at the focal point of the town square. It became a Class B listed building in 1972. The town was a

planned settlement A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

, developed from 1817 by

James Duff, 4th Earl Fife James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, KT, GCH (6 October 1776 – 9 March 1857), was a Scot who became a Spanish general. Biography James was the elder son of the Hon. Alexander Duff, who succeeded his brother as third Earl Fife in 1809. He was educated ...

, near

Balvenie Castle Balvenie Castle is a ruined castle 1 km north of Dufftown in the Moray region of Scotland. History Originally known as ''Mortlach'', it was built in the 12th century by a branch of the powerful Comyn family (the ''Black Comyns'') and was ...

and Balvenie House. There are six

malt whisky Malt whisky is whisky made from a fermented mash consisting primarily of malted barley. If the product is made exclusively at a single distillery (along with other restrictions), it is typically called a single malt whisky. Although malt whisky ca ...

distilleries operating nearby: Dufftown, Mortlach, Glendullan,

Balvenie The Balvenie distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland, owned by William Grant & Sons. History William Grant was born on 19 December 1839 in his father's house in Dufftown. At seven he began herding ...

, Kininvie, and Glenfiddich. The three storey tower was constructed of grey granite with pink granite dressings in 1839, as the town gaol. After use as a prison, and then as the Burgh Chambers, it is now a Tourist Information Centre. The ground floor has doors to the south and west, with band courses between the floors. The first and second floors have a window recess on each elevation; some have a

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

but many are blank. The walls have some mock circular

gun loop An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out ...

s. The crenellated parapet has a clock face on each elevation, with a dummy bartizan at each corner. The tower was originally topped by a leaded steeple; it now has a bellcote with leaded ogee roof, ball finial and weathervane. The clock was brought to Dufftown from Banff, where it was known as "the Clock That Hanged MacPherson": MacPherson of Kingussie was convicted and condemned to death, and the Sheriff of Banff

Lord Braco Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

put the clock forward by 15 minutes to ensure that MacPherson would be hanged before a pardon arrive. Around the base of the tower are plaques commemorating

Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, (10 November 1849 – 29 January 1912) styled Viscount Macduff between 1857 and 1879 and known as the Earl Fife between 1879 and 1889, was a British peer who married Princess Louise, the third c ...

(1849-1912) and Lord Mount Stephen (1829-1921), and another plaque records that the clock was illuminated to commemorate

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamond ...

in 1897. A single storey pink granite extension was added to the north in 1925. File:Tower With Clock - panoramio.jpg, In 2011 File:The Clock Tower at Dufftown - geograph.org.uk - 1620351.jpg, In 2009 File:Dufftown Clock Tower (A941) - geograph.org.uk - 526638.jpg, In 2007 File:Dufftown clock tower.jpg, In 2007 File:Clock Tower,Dufftown. - geograph.org.uk - 162346.jpg, In 2006

References

Dufftown
iTraveluk.co.uk

Undiscovered Scotland {{coord, 57.44483, -3.12837, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Category B listed buildings in Moray Clock towers in the United Kingdom Towers completed in 1839 Dufftown

See also

References