19 November 2012

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

REMODELLING work is about to start on the town clock in London Road which has become structurally unsound after prolonged leaking.

Work will begin on 19 November and it is hoped that the roof, brickwork and internal steelwork will be removed by 23 November.

Rebuilding the brickwork tower and the refitting of a new concrete top will take place from 26 – 30 November, after which a new roof, window and door will be installed and painted before the refitted clock and electrics go back in, between the 10 and 12 December.

Subject to weather conditions the work should be finished and the site cleared by 21 December.

The clock was originally purchased by public subscription in 1890 and erected on a building to honour the 80th birthday of influential East Grinstead resident Thomas Cramp, who founded the East Grinstead Total Abstinence Society in 1837.

When its original site was knocked down, the clock was moved in 1955 to the current purpose-built brick tower at the expense of Sidney Betchley and LWE Dungey.

In 2000 it was restored, thanks to an anonymous benefactor, but a design fault allowed water into the top of the tower, damaging the steel frame inside and making the tower structurally unsound.

Picture courtesy of the East Grinstead Observer – Town resident Alan Howson pictured with the clock which he described as ‘part of town history’