Time Ball Buildings

These houses and shops, now a restaurant, date from the early 19th century. Significant decorative alterations were made around 1872 (to numbers 25 and 26), and circa 1900 (to number 24, and the ground floor). A further restoration took place in 1993, following alterations for the watchmaker, J Dyson. The building is stucco faced, with a probable slate roof. It is three storeys high, with a four-window front. Quoins are present.

Numbers 25 and 26 have four-pane sash windows in canted bays to the first floor, with architraves and a moulded cornice supported by console brackets. Below the eaves are moulded panels with the raised lettering 'TIME BALL BUILDINGS'. A modillion cornice sits between large console brackets, surmounted by scrolled finials. Bay windows are flanked by a large, pedimented clock case displaying the lettering 'JOHN DYSON 25 & 26'. Elaborate wrought iron cresting rises above the eaves line including spiral and palmette motifs, the overthrow terminating in a weather vane and framing the shaft and time ball.

Number 24 has a later, elaborate wooden bay window projecting through the upper storeys, retaining fine curved glass panes at first floor level, a moulded cornice and a small pediment surmounted by a small dome topped by a sphere. A cantilevered clock in a frame with ironwork spandrels projects from the front of the bay; it features the letters 'D & S', 'TEMPUS FUGIT', and the date 1865, all surmounted by a figure of Father Time. The ground floor has a continuous pilastered shop front with entrances centrally located and to the far left.

The interior contains important original fittings, including ornate panelling, etched missors, counters and shelving. There is also a mechanism (now relocated) that formerly raised and lowered the window displays, allowing safe storage in the cellar/vaults each night.

Historically, the building was used by a distiller, saddler, trunk maker, hairdresser and perfumier, and a stationer through the 19th century. The premises were uninhabited between approximately 1869 and 1871, during the rebuilding of Boar Lane. J Dyson, a watchmaker, was at number 26 in 1872, and by 1890 the firm occupied the whole building. The gilded time ball mechanism was linked to Greenwich and dropped precisely at 1pm each day. This feature, alongside the window mechanism, represents a rare survival of elaborate Victorian and Edwardian shop innovation and design.