The Clock Tower is a Grade II listed building in the Westminster local planning authority area, England. First listed on 5 February 1970. Clock tower.

The Clock Tower

WRENN ID
dark-keystone-vermeil
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Westminster
Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster MP: Rachel Blake (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
5 February 1970
Type
Clock tower
Address
The Clock Tower, Zoological Gardens Nw1, City of Westminster
OS grid reference
TQ 281 834
Coordinates
51.53553, -0.15423
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Clock Tower, formerly known as the Camel House, is a building dating from around 1830 to 1831, designed by Decimus Burton for the Zoological Society. It was rebuilt in the mid-1960s. The structure is made of stock brick and features a tiled gable end roof. It has one storey and consists of three bays, with the central bay positioned between two pointed arched openings on the east side. The building has overhanging eaves and a ridge topped by a timber-framed and pilastered clock tower, which is crowned with a copper cupola. Decimus Burton also landscaped the original gardens and designed the zoo buildings for the Society between 1826 and 1841, drawing inspiration from the Paris Jardin des Plantes.

Local climate

The Clock Tower sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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