Herne Bay Clock Tower

Tick Tock It's Herne Bay Clock

When we think of the seaside towns dotted along our beautiful coastline images of grand hotels fronting a sandy beach, flashy amusement arcades with a multitude of vibrant lights beaming into the night, piers packed with tourists taking a short stroll over the waves and the distinctive smell of fish and chips filling the air come to mind but what many will miss is the usually charming, decorative and often centrally, located clock tower informing us that there are many hours of fun to come, that it's time for a rest or indeed that the hour has arrived when we should think of heading home. These handy timekeepers can be found in a long list of our seaside destinations including Margate, Morecambe, Skegness and Weymouth, many erected to commemorate Queen Victoria's jubilee, the Kent town of Herne Bay however has the granddaddy of them all and it is this clock tower that this post is all about.


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It's Time For Some Perfect Skies In Herne Bay


Built in 1837, Herne Bay's extravagant time keeper, simply known as The Clock Tower is one of the oldest, purpose built, free standing clock towers in the country and is now a Grade II Listed building. Herne Bay's original pier was completed in 1832 during a time of expansion and development for the town which had become a popular seaside destination with those wishing to escape from the smog filled hustle and bustle of the 'big smoke', London, it was during this time that Ann Thwaytes the rich widow of  London grocer William Thwaytes visited, staying with friends at Marine Terrace along Central Parade, so taken with the town that she became a benefactor of Herne Bay and donated £4,000 to the construction of a clock tower. Mrs Thwaytes asked the young London and Herne Bay architect Edwin James Dangerfield to design a clock tower inspired by Greek Temples


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Support For The Clock Tower


The Portland Stone clock tower rises in stages from a stepped base, the ground floor is square in shape with doors on the east and west fronts with simple but decorative architraves (moulds that surround a door or window that softens or disguises joins) above these are pediments, the east front also contains a panel with the inscription 'The Gift Of Mrs Ann Thwaites To This Town 11th October A.D 1837', the north front contains a memorial to the Boer War in South Africa, there are also two cannons on the ground floor, situated between the columns and pointing out to sea. The ground floor is fronted by twelve fluted, doric columns, three in each corner, supporting a large frieze with simple detailing, a second stepped base supports a rounded shaft featuring an attractive, rounded, plain niche (a recess in a wall) and four corinthian columns with decorative capitals (top of a column), these four columns support the stage above which is square, each side contains a clock face and pilasters with leaf detailed capitals this stage is topped by a pediment on each side, rising above these is a octagonal cupola containing arched openings, more pilasters between and a cornice, the clock tower is topped by a dome and a weather vane.


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Herne Bay Or Ancient Greece



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Coastal Defence

Location: 72 Central Parade, Herne Bay CT6 5JQ, UK

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