Question: Where can you find a clock tower that doesn’t tell the time?
Answer: On Swanage seafront!
This is the Wellington clock tower. Once a London landmark, it now silently watches over Swanage Bay from Peveril Point. But how did the tower make its way down to Dorset?
A start in the city
Wellington clock tower stood at the southern end of London Bridge. Designed by Arthur Ashpitel in honour of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, The Commissioners for Lighting the West Division of Southwark raised funds for the tower by donation, although they didn’t raise quite enough to include a statue of the duke. The clock was illuminated from within, and the ground floor was home to a telegraph office.
Hard times
Unfortunately, Wellington clock tower was not cut out for city life. Heavy traffic caused the clock to run unreliably. Construction of the overground and railway viaduct overshadowed it entirely. The final straw came when the Metropolitan police condemned the tower as an obstruction to traffic, and it was demolished in 1867.
How did it get to Swanage?
George Burt was a successful contractor and businessman based in Swanage, where he ran Mowlem construction company. He regularly worked in London, mostly on prominent buildings of Purbeck stone. The stone was shipped by barge from Swanage to the city, which unloaded their heavy goods and needed ballast to make the return journey. This was often salvaged from demolished buildings, “rubbish” which Burt saw the value in and began reconstructing in Swanage. This was the case for the clock tower.
Wellington clock tower was reconstructed a year after its demolition without the clock mechanism, and the spire was also removed for safety. Because of George Burt’s regular business in London, you can still find touches of the city across town in bollards and lamp posts. The town hall façade was originally designed by a student of Christopher Wren for Mercer’s Hall, and it was incorporated into King Alfred Hall by local architects Crickmay & Sons.
