15 Apr 2023
Having never made it to the top of St Albans’ historic Clock Tower in 14 years of living and working here, it was impossible to ignore the invitation to attend this year’s grand opening and finally take the challenge.
And wasn’t it worth it! On a beautiful spring day with nary a cloud in the sky, the views from the 64ft parapet stretched out for miles, taking in the sun glittering off cars on the M25, out to the Gorhambury estate, the Cathedral, and across the medieval rooftops of our fair city.
Built in 1405, the Clock Tower is now the only surviving medieval town belfry in England, and over the centuries has been a shop and a government telegraph station during the Napoleonic wars.
Gabriel, the Tower’s original one ton bell, remains in place, and in past times would have sounded the Angelus and the evening Curfew. It would have also rung out an alarm in case of “fire or fray”, such as at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455.
The present clock dates from 1866, and uses a mechanism invented by Lord Grimthorpe, who not only restored the Cathedral but also designed the mechanism used by the clock for Big Ben at Westminster.
After falling into a state of disrepair in the middle 19th century, a proposal was made to demolish the entire Clock Tower in 1863, which was thankfully fought off by a campaign initiated by St Albans Civic Society, St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society, and a fledgling Herts Advertiser.
The restoration work cost £1,000 and was completed in 1866.
But no amount of reading historical facts about our remarkable edifice can make up for the experience of climbing the narrow stone staircase to the top.
Graffiti etched into its walls by now long-dead citizens add to the sense of time’s passing, with some of the names featured playing their part in other events over St Albans’ long history.
This year’s opening event was presided over by St Albans Mayor Cllr Geoff Harrison, who turned the symbolic key to open up the tower, with announcements by Town Crier Stephen Potter.
The Clock Tower is now open from 10.30am-5pm every weekend and bank holiday until October 1, with entry just £2 for adults (children are free), thanks to the dedication of volunteers from the Civic Society and Arc and Arc.
