page_title: Clock Tower, St Albans
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Clock Tower, St Albans / History
caption_attribution_description: Eleanor Cross Plaque
context_page_description: The Clock Tower is a Grade I listed belfry in St Albans, England which was constructed between 1403 and 1412, believed to have been completed in 1405. It has been claimed to be the only remaining medieval town belfry in England, and was initially built as a protest against the power of the local abbey.
context_section_description: The Clock Tower was built between 1403 and 1412, and is believed to have been completed in 1405. The Tower was built close to the site of the Eleanor cross. Twelve Eleanor crosses were constructed throughout eastern England under the orders of King Edward I between 1291 and 1294 in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile. The site of each cross marks the nightly resting place of Eleanor's funeral procession.
  The cross at St Albans cost £113 to build and was constructed in 1291. The top section of the St Albans Eleanor Cross was destroyed during the English Civil War, and the rest of the monument was later demolished in 1701–1702. In its place, the Market cross, a gazebo style structure was built in 1703. This it turn was torn down in 1810, as it was deemed to be a danger to traffic. Once removed, railings were installed around the town pump. The pump was subsequently also removed, and, in 1874, philanthropist Isabella Worley donated a drinking fountain the town. In the latter part of the 20th Century, the fountain was dismantled and rebuilt in nearby Victoria Square.
  The Tower was designed and built by Thomas Wolvey a former Royal Mason, and it is believed it was built as a protest against the power of St Albans Abbey. The belief is that the local merchants were in favour of the Tower being built, as it meant their hours would no longer be decided by those at the Abbey, who had a clock and peel of bells of their own. Prolific architect Sir Gilbert Scott would later state that he believed the initial purpose of the Clock Tower was as a free standing bell tower, similar to other structures such as Giotto's Campanile in Florence. The location of the Tower was also part of this protest; the Clock Tower looks 'face to face' with the Abbey, but sits on higher ground. It is unknown if the Tower had a clock-face from its inception, however, it is known that there was one in place by 1485.
  During the Napoleonic Wars the Clock Towers height was an advantage and the roof was used as a semaphore station. The shutter telegraph style semaphore was part of the 16 station London to Great Yarmouth line, along which a message could be sent within 5 minutes. The semaphore station itself was built atop a small wooden observation hut which was erected on the roof. The observation hut was removed in 1852.
  In 1858, the living quarters at the base of the Tower were destroyed, which in turn meant that the rest of tower fell into a state of disrepair. Five years later in 1863, a proposal was made to demolish the entire structure. A year later, Sir Gilbert Scott was commissioned to produce a report on the state of the Tower, and its estimated cost of restoration. Scott would state that the building could be restored at a cost of approximately £700. The final cost of the repairs however, was £1000. The restoration was completed in 1866, with almost all of the external masonry work being renewed. Further features such as Gargoyles, new windows and a new clock mechanism were installed. Initial plans for a spire on top of the Tower didn't not come to fruition, instead a capped turret was installed. 
  Historically, the ground floor of the Tower was used a shop, with the first floor being reserved as the shopkeepers housing. This was the case until roughly 1900. The second floor was the clock keepers living quarters, with the third floor housing the clock and related mechanism. The fourth floor houses the bells.
  Noted author and illustrator Frederick George Kitton produced several sketches of the Clock Tower and wrote a document detailing the history of building from construction round to the then present day (1901/1902).
  In the present day, the Clock Tower is owned and operated by St Albans District Council and is open to the public for a £1 charge in the weekends. In an echo of the Tower's original roots as a protest symbol, on 29 June 2019 the climate-change protest group Extinction Rebellion hung a banner from the battlement to mark the forthcoming Council vote on declaring a climate emergency.
caption: The plaque affixed to the front face of the Clock Tower highlighting the site of the Eleanor Cross.
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