London has four Coronation clocktowers, each erected to celebrate a monarch's big day.
Edward VII (1902) - Surbiton
Stirred with pride at the coronation of Edward VII, Surbiton Urban District Council proposed the erection of a commemorative clocktower at the tip of Claremont Gardens. But they didn't rush. Work didn't start on site until 1905 and the whole thing wasn't completed until 1908, by which time the honoured monarch had just two years left to live. The architect they hired was John Johnson, a man whose CV already included the Golden Jubilee clocktowers in Brighton and Gravesend (the latter of which looks suspiciously similar). His Surbiton tower is square, stone-faced and 18m high, with a lofty pinnacle on each corner and a spirelet in the centre. The weather vane incorporates the letters E and A to represent Edward and Alexandra, and a bust of the king decorates a medallion on the southern side. It's proper Victorian Gothic, despite plainly being Edwardian.
By 1963 the clocktower was in such poor condition that it was nearly demolished but thankfully got refurbished instead, with a further urgent upgrade required in 2007. Today it stands guard over the entrance to Waitrose's busy car park, and also shadows a cafe unexcitingly called the Clocktower Cafe. They do waffles and coffee but also falafel and Syrian sweet treats so the clientele's probably more Tom and Barbara than Margot and Jerry. Round the back of the tower is a locked door leading to a staircase used by whoever maintains the clock, and also a copper lightning rod (whose last annual inspection was on 24/08/22). The pavement underneath the tower also appears to be where Waitrose staff head when they need a fag break, because I had to wait while three of them worked their way through two smokes and an energy drink before I could step over and read the plaque. Prince Edward unveiled that, King Edward never visited.
George V (1911) - Bexleyheath
Bexleyheath's coronation clocktower was part of a plan by local businessmen to drag Bexleyheath into the 20th century. We need a modern market place suitable for shoppers and the motor car, they said, so swept away the water fountain and horse trough and built this instead. The architect was a local man, Walter Epps, and part of his brief was to incorporate a new electricity substation to power trams and conceal it within the base. Councillors had hoped to pay the £454 bill through public subscription but contributions fell short so had to be topped up with funds from the Electricity, Lighting and Traction Committee and from the sale of commemorative postcards. The resulting tower was 14m tall, a bit squat and blessed with four electric clocks designed to be lit up at night.
The opening ceremony was held on 17th July 1912, Bexleyheath Gala day, and was suitably Trumptonesque. A distinguished party marched from the council offices led by the Captain of the Fire Brigade, enjoyed a hymn sung by local schoolchildren and expressed a hope that this "would be the beginnings of better things to come in Bexleyheath". A packed crowd then watched Councillor Reid unlock the door with a special silver key, cheered when a bust of George V was unveiled and afterwards headed off to Danson Park for further revelling. The current kingly bust is a replacement, added in 1935 after the plaster original disintegrated when it was removed for cleaning. And although the intention was that busts of other members of the royal family would fill the three empty niches it took over a century for Queen Elizabeth to join him, and the only other presence is William Morris (added in 1997 to mark the centenary of his death). Time runs slow in Bexleyheath.
(for anorak-level history I heartily recommend this 30-page leaflet produced by the Bexley Historical Society for the tower's centenary in 2012)
George VI (1937) - Northolt and Hanwell
When George VI became king Ealing council couldn't decide whether to build a commemorative clocktower in Northolt or Hanwell, so they built both.
Northolt's has a rustic feel as befits its location on what was once the village green. It's surrounded by a square bench and was originally meant to incorporate a shelter but that was never built. On Coronation Day in May 1937 the tower wasn't quite ready, indeed it was still clockless at the time, but the Mayor of Ealing went ahead and unveiled it anyway. Completion took another two months, and even then it took a passer-by to point out that the weather vane was pointing the wrong way so the borough engineers had to come back and shift it. In recent years the clock's kept very poor time, peeving multiple passers-by, but last month the mechanism was finally fixed in readiness for George's grandson's coronation, hurrah.
Hanwell's clocktower is entirely different, a timepiece on four concrete legs in full-on art deco style. It was unveiled a week before Northolt's and is located on Hanwell Broadway at what the Mayor declared to be "one of the finest gateways to the city of London". It nearly met its match in the 1970s when a local estate agent called Mr Parish described it as a "dreadful concrete eyesore" and called for its replacement, claiming it was both "self-congratulatory" and "downright ugly". Thankfully the community fought back against his bumptious arrogance and the clocktower was renovated rather than removed, after which the awful Mr Parish said he now quite liked it. Another restoration for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 is marked with a supplementary plaque.
Elizabeth II (1953)
I couldn't find a clocktower erected for the Queen's coronation, not in Greater London anyway.
Instead here's a photo of the commemorative tree that was planted for her in Lincoln's Inn Fields. If you look really closely it features a squirrel eating a sandwich amid the upper branches.
Charles III (2023)
Nobody's built a clocktower for our new King's coronation either, public funds not being what they once were.
Instead here's a photo of a bus stop in Tolworth with the highly appropriate name of King Charles Road. It's not far from Surbiton so I was in the area anyway.
I also went for a walk along King Charles Road, a mile-long suburban artery linking Tolworth to Surbiton.
I noted the railway bridge, the charismatic church, the twin parks, the big villas, the council flats, the corner coffee shop, the pub that's recently been boarded up and is now for sale with 0.19 acres of development potential, the adult learning centre pencilled in for a free school, the LTN traffic filter and the one remaining street sign with an apostrophe in it. This could have made for a thrillingly comprehensive 1000-word blogpost but alas Coronationtide ends today so there isn't time.
And while in Kingston I obviously dropped in on the historic Coronation Stone. The town is said to be where seven Saxon kings were crowned, with Æthelstan, Eadred and Æthelred the Unready staking the best claim. This sarsen block isn't original, merely a chunk bestowed with antiquity, and you can find it within the grounds of the Guildhall where it's currently bedecked in Carolean bunting.
Sorry to rush this but if I don't squeeze in all my last gobbets of Coronation content today it'll be of no relevance for umpteen years to come. Normal unroyal service resumes tomorrow.
