The Clock Tower

The Clock Tower, built in 1864 by Alfred Waterhouse, is a tall, seven-stage tower made of pale brick with stone bands and dressings, designed in the Italian Gothic style. Each face of the fifth stage features paired pointed arched windows, which have detached shafts with ornamental capitals and lead to decorative cast iron balconies supported by heavy stone brackets. The sixth stage consists of open pointed arcading. Above the clock face, there are octagonal corner turrets that support spirelets around a tall slated spire, which includes lucarnes and a vane. The west face has a doorway that is now blocked, featuring mouldings and nook shafts. An adjacent plaque notes that the tower was presented to the town by Joseph Pease in 1864, with Alfred F. Waterhouse as the architect. On the north side, there is a two-storey building made of similar materials that has had large shop windows added to both the ground and first floors.