The Victoria Clock Tower, also referred to as the Queen Victoria Memorial, is a heritage-registered clock tower located in the former mining village of

Foxdale Foxdale (; glv, Forsdal ; on, Fors-dal – 'waterfall dale or valley') consisting of the districts of Upper and Lower Foxdale on the A3 Castletown to Ramsey Road with the junction of the A24 Foxdale to Braaid road and the A40 ''The Hope'' road ...

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, and is said to have been the first memorial in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

dedicated to the 64-year reign of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

.''Peel City Guardian.'' Saturday, May 18, 1901; Page: 2 The tower was commissioned and paid for by the Isle of Man Mining Company and stands at the southern end of what was once the Miner's Institute, Foxdale village, facing the mine company's offices. Donated as a gift from the company to the people of

, when completed in 1901 it was situated in a specially advantageous position, having been so arranged that the clock could be seen from all points of the village in order to provide a much needed standard of time to the inhabitants.

Design and construction

Constructed in a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, the tower stands at and was designed by John Nicholls, engineer of the mine, with the stonework being undertaken by masons and labourers employed by the works. Built with local stone and with corner pieces and decorative features of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

, it has at its base eight supporting

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es. The clock was supplied by J.B. Joyce & Co., of

Whitchurch, Shropshire Whitchurch is a market town in the north of Shropshire, England. It lies east of the Welsh border, 2 miles south of the Cheshire border, north of the county town of Shrewsbury, south of Chester, and east of Wrexham. At the 2011 Census, the ...

. The clock consists of two faces, one which would have faced the mine works and the other which at one time would have faced Pott's Shaft. The faces are in

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...

consisting of ironwork filled with

opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline form ...

and are visible across the valley. Initially it was intended to have the faces illuminated at night, however this never occurred.

Dedication ceremony

The dedication ceremony of the monument took place on Thursday 16 May 1901 and was an occasion of immense civic pride for the village of

. The ceremony was performed by James Mackee, Chairman of the Isle of Man Mining Company, accompanied by Captain William Kitto with numerous other dignitaries and the Foxdale Mines Band. Upon the clock striking six o'clock, Mr Mackee pulled the cord releasing the cover over the

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

tablet, the inscription on which read: Following the dedication the band struck up the British National Anthem and Mr Mackee called for ''"Three Cheers for The King."''

Subsequent life

In 1912 following the winding up of the Isle of Man Mining Company, a liquidation sale of its assets which included the Victoria Clock Tower was held. Despite having previously been donated to the people of Foxdale, the mine company had undertaken to keep the structure in a good state of repair as well as providing the finances for its upkeep. The structure, along with the Institute, were purchased by a Mr. Kerruish who again donated the clock tower as well as the nearby institute to the village of Foxdale.''Isle of Man Times.'' Saturday, June 10, 1939; Page: 9 By 1939 the clock had succumbed to a state of disrepair and a committee was formed with a view to raising money in order to carry out repairs. A sum of £50 was raised, which included a donation of $5 from a Foxdalian who had emigrated to

Kirkland Lake, Ontario Kirkland Lake is a town and municipality in Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The 2016 population, according to Statistics Canada, was 7,981. The community name was based on a nearby lake which in turn was named after Winnifre ...

. The money was used to carry out repairs to the clock, which were undertaken by a company from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

and in addition a tablet, consisting of the names of the directors of the Isle of Man Mining Company as of 1901, and which had been languishing in the cellar of the old mine's pay office since its closure, was placed within the lower part of the tower. The ceremony of the restarting of the clock, together with the unveiling of the tablet, was carried out 1 July 1939.''Isle of Man Times.'' Saturday, July 01, 1939; Page: 9 The clock tower became the property of a trust until 1962 when it was acquired by the Isle of Man's Department of Social Services following the winding up of the trust, in turn becoming the responsibility of the Department of Local Government and Environment and the Department of Infrastructure. In 2018 the clock underwent further restoration following which ownership of the clock tower was transferred to the local authority, Patrick Commissioners. Today the clock tower remains a focal part of the village of Foxdale together with the adjacent community garden.

Gallery

References

{{Reflist Towers completed in 1901 Towers in the Isle of Man Clock towers Monuments and memorials to Queen Victoria

Design and construction

Dedication ceremony

Subsequent life

Gallery

See also

References