Highfields War Memorial Clock Tower

The Highfields War Memorial Clock Tower is a First World War memorial built in 1922, with additions for the Second World War. Constructed from ashlar and rough-hewn sandstone blocks, along with red granite tablets, the clock tower features a four-stage, square-plan campanile design, with each stage becoming narrower as it rises. Standing at 8.53 meters tall, the tower is set on a two-stepped stone base. It has a coursed rough-hewn plinth, a slightly tapering pedestal with rough-hewn quoins and ashlar block panels, and an ashlar frieze that displays a clock face with Roman numerals on the main elevation. The tower is topped with an ashlar domed belfry, which has a knob finial and is pierced by a pair of round-arched sound openings on each elevation. The upper three stages feature moulded cornices, while the lower panel of the pedestal is adorned with a carved relief of an oval wreath tied with ribbons. A narrow timber door at the rear of the plinth provides access to the clock mechanism. A red marble tablet with gilded incised lettering on the front reads: "TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ THIS CLOCK TOWER IS ERECTED/ TO THE SACRED MEMORY/ OF THE UNDERNAMED WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY/ DURING THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 - 1919/ [32 Names]/ LEST WE FORGET." A smaller matching tablet commemorating the fallen of the Second World War has been added at the base, reading: "1939 - 1945 WAR [13 Names]."