Four times time

Ninety-five years ago toady, on 27 June 1930, Brighton’s Mayor Horace Aldrich formally opened the clock tower at the entrance to the Palace Pier. Commissioned by the Brighton Marine Palace and Pier Company and built by W. G. Beaumont & Company, the new clock tower was designed to create a grander gateway for visitors, replacing the original ironwork arches as part of a widened promenade. Its four faces have since become an iconic feature at the pier’s entrance, though the clock faces don’t always tell the same time!

Local lore holds that the clock’s internal mechanism and faces were salvaged from the Brighton Aquarium, during its 1929 demolition, and repurposed into the new pier entrance (see My Brighton and Hove). While this is a persistent and colourful legend - referenced in community histories and online forums - there seems to be no definitive documentation to confirm it. 

The clock has not always run smoothly. During the Second World War, the mechanism and faces were removed for safekeeping, protecting them from potential bomb damage or sabotage. When the pier reopened in June 1946, the clock was reinstalled and the tower rebuilt. Over the decades, the coastal environment - with its salt, wind and storms - has taken its toll, leading to periodic wear and tear and necessitating regular maintenance.

One of the most notable recent challenges occurred during a particularly wet winter in the late 2000s. The tower’s waterproofing failed, causing wooden structural supports to decay. This led to the clock’s shafts binding and the mechanism losing time. The problem was resolved by engineers from Hastings, who restored the clock and repaired the structure. Nevertheless, in the last few years, when on the beach, I’ve learned to check more than one face if I need to know the time.