Lichfield Clock Tower or Friary Clock Tower is a 19th-century

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

clock tower located on 'The Friary' south of Festival Gardens in the city of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The tower was erected in 1863 at the junction of Bird Street and Bore Street over the site of the ancient Crucifix Conduit which supplied water to the

Friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

since 1301. In the early 20th century, since the invention of the motor car, Bird Street and Bore Street were becoming congested with traffic due to their narrow layout and the position of the clock tower only made matters worse. In 1928 the road named ‘The Friary’ was built across the former Friary site. The building of this road necessitated the relocation of the clock tower, 400m west of its original location along the new road.

History

In the mid 19th century the building of clock towers was in fashion in England. Following the construction of

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...

in 1858, the Council Chamber of Lichfield mooted the idea of following suit and building their own clock tower in the city. A number of locations were suggested for the clock tower including the roof of the

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

and in the Market Square where it would incorporate the statue of

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

into its structure. These ideas were eventually dismissed and it was decided to erect the tower at the junction of Bore Street and Bird Street capping the redundant Crucifix Conduit. The tower was designed by Joseph Potter Jnr. in a

Norman style The term Norman architecture is used to categorise styles of Romanesque architecture developed by the Normans in the various lands under their dominion or influence in the 11th and 12th centuries. In particular the term is traditionally used fo ...

and financed by the Lichfield Conduit Lands Trust. When the tower was complete it had cost the Trust £1200. There were originally three clock faces as it was considered unnecessary for a west face as it only looked upon one property; the Friary. However, due to complaints from the tenant at the Friary a fourth face was added. There were numerous problems regarding the accuracy of the clock during its early years until the whole mechanism was overhauled by Joyce of Whitchurch in 1898. In 1920 the 11 acre Friary estate was sold to Sir

Richard Ashmole Cooper Sir Richard Ashmole Cooper, 2nd Baronet (11 August 1874 – 5 March 1946) was a British politician and a member of the Cooper Baronets, of Shenstone Court. Biography Cooper was educated at Clifton College, and succeeded to the baronetcy in 1913. ...

(MP for

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

), who gave it to the city for the purpose of developing the area and laying out a new road. For many years since the invention of the motor car Bird Street and Bore Street were becoming congested with traffic due to their narrow layout, and the position of the clock tower was part of the problem. The west side of Lichfield was still very much undeveloped by 1920 and the city didn’t really extend beyond St John's Street to the west. In 1928 the road named ‘The Friary’ was built across the former Friary site. The building of this road necessitated the relocation of the clock tower. The clock tower was taken down and re-erected at its current site south of Festival Gardens, some 400m west of its original location. The tower was repaired and restored in 1991 with the assistance of the Conduit Lands Trust. The clock tower is now in the care of Lichfield City Council.

Gallery

References

External links

Images of England: Clock Tower, LichfieldLichfield District Council: Heritage Trail
{{City of Lichfield Grade II listed buildings in Staffordshire Buildings and structures in Lichfield Clock towers in the United Kingdom Individual clocks in England

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links