Clock Tower

The Clock Tower in Redruth is a historic structure built in 1828 to replace an earlier clock tower. It was altered in 1836 and raised by one storey in 1900, with the original top placed above the new section. Constructed from granite ashlar, the tower is square in plan and now consists of four stages. The ground floor features diagonal buttresses and a large two-centred arched doorway with a chamfered surround and hoodmould. Each upper stage is slightly set back above a weathered band. The second stage has a two-centred arched window with a hoodmould, while the third stage includes coupled round-headed lancets under a hoodmould, with newer masonry above. The tall fourth stage has smaller coupled lancets under a hoodmould, a large clock face, and an over-sailing embattled parapet above a band, topped with a weather vane. The lower half of the left-hand side and rear are obscured by adjoining buildings, but the other sides are similar to the front.

Historically, a lock-up operated under the clock from 1841 to 1851. The open arches at ground level were enclosed for use as police cells in 1841, and this lock-up remained until 1851; the doorways beneath the clock tower still exist, although one is blocked. It is noted that Trounson’s store, built in 1869 and extended in 1890, obstructed the view of the clock for miners living in the East End of the town, prompting the raising of the clock tower so that they could see the time. Architectural critic Nikolaus Pevsner remarked that the clock tower resembles a Cornish version of the Palazzo Vecchio tower.