Clock Tower and Attached Railings is a Grade II listed building in the Brighton and Hove local planning authority area, England. First listed on 26 August 1999. Clock tower.

Clock Tower and Attached Railings

WRENN ID
broken-lantern-claret
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Brighton and Hove
Constituency
Brighton Pavilion MP: Siân Berry (Green)
Country
England
Date first listed
26 August 1999
Type
Clock tower
Address
Clock Tower and Attached Railings, North Street, the City of Brighton and Hove
OS grid reference
TQ 308 043
Coordinates
50.8237, -0.14361
Source
Historic England listing

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

Description

The Jubilee clock tower, built in 1888, is located on North Street in Brighton. It was designed by John Johnson, constructed by JT Chappell, and donated by James Willing, whose name and the date of the jubilee, 1887, are displayed on the clock face. The tower is made of Portland stone and pink polished granite, with a copper roof.

The structure is square in plan, featuring an aedicule on each of its four sides. The base is made of pink polished granite, topped with panelled Portland stone. Each front has Corinthian columns in front of pilasters of pink polished granite, which support an entablature adorned with a frieze of scrolling ornament and an open pediment. From the frieze, ships project on each side, labeled on the gunwales: 'TO HOVE' on the west, 'TO THE SEA' on the south, 'TO KEMP TOWN' on the east, and 'TO THE STATION' on the north.

The aedicule frames a round-arched panel with roundel portraits: the Princess of Wales on the west, Prince Albert on the south, the Prince of Wales on the east, and Queen Victoria on the north. Life-size female figures are seated at the corners between the aedicules.

The upper stage features blocked pilasters as quoins and banded rustication, with pendants on either side of the four clock faces. It has a frieze of balusters, a dentil and modillion cornice, and an octagonal roof. The roof displays cartouches between putti on all four sides, with lucarnes above and urns at the corners. The domed copper roof is topped with a crown that carries a metal globe at the foot of a mast. Originally, this was a time ball designed by Magnus Volk, which rose and fell on the hour but was discontinued after a few years due to noise complaints. A weather vane with the initials JW is also present.

Iron railings with scrolled panels and urn and spearhead finials are attached to the clock tower on the north and east sides, and they also frame the entrances to public lavatories.

Local climate

Clock Tower and Attached Railings receives an average of 840 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 56% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 89% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 15 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 85% of listed buildings. Of these, 7 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.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • No EPC on record for this property
  • No sale records on file
  • No related consent applications matched
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. The Quadrant Public House Grade II 43 m
  2. 37a, Duke Street Grade II 112 m
  3. Numbers 12 and 13 Duke Street Grade II 114 m
  4. 11, Dyke Road Grade II 118 m
  5. Two Bollards in Front of Number 8 Wykeham Terrace Grade II 124 m
  6. Monument to Amon Wilds in Churchyard of the Church of St Nicholas of Myra Grade II 142 m
  7. The Victory Public House Grade II 146 m
  8. Former Holy Trinity Church Grade II 152 m
  9. 2, Boyces Street Grade II 163 m
  10. Railings to the Queens Road Rest Garden South Range Grade II 177 m