PUBLIC CLOCKS are an indication of man’s preoccupation with time and they have appeared on important buildings for centuries to help those who could not afford a watch in the days when such timepieces were extremely valuable and far beyond the reach of the working man. 

The clock on the Town Hall has been time keeping for almost two centuries apart from one or two breaks caused by either replacement or repairs, the latest incident stopping it completely earlier this year. An inspection has revealed that the two hands have been damaged, either deliberately by something being thrown at the dial or perhaps by a bird strike, and so the time stands still at two minutes past twelve. The cost of repairs is now being assessed although it is likely to be expensive because remedial work is expected to involve the erection of scaffolding. 

A clock was not included in the original design of the Town Hall when it was built in 1821 but added two years later. It was housed in a wooden turret or tower on the roof and the cost of supply and installation was met by Mrs Eleanor Frances Pochin shortly before she died on 16th July 1823 at the age of 76. She was the widow of George Pochin, who was Lord of the Manor of Bourne Abbots for 37 years from 1761-98, and during her lifetime she became one of the town’s major benefactors.  

The clock continued in use until 1882 when a new one was installed at a cost of £85 [£8,000 at today's values]. The contract was awarded jointly to two local clock and watch makers, Thomas Pearce, of North Street, and Joseph Ellicock, of West Street, after they had submitted an acceptable estimate for a two-dial eight-day turret clock striking the hours and quarters and made by Thwaite’s & Reed, a distinguished firm of clockmakers established at Clerkenwell, London, during the 18th century. Work began in October that year and was completed by Christmas, the cost being met by donations and public subscriptions.  

The clock remained in use until the end of the century when the parish council, which was then responsible for administering local affairs, decided that the tower needed strengthening and that the clock should be illuminated at night. The project was the brainchild of Councillor Alfred Stubley, a local decorator and scenic artist, and it was mainly due to his practical knowledge and capability that it came to fruition to mark the diamond jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria in 1897. 

The work was carried out in 1899 by a local expert Mr Edward Pearce, a clock and watch maker with premises in North Street, and the son of Thomas Pearce who had helped supply the previous clock. 

The timepiece had been in need of restoration for some time and Mr Pearce fitted a new dial with gilded hands and black figures behind opal glass, allowing the clock face to be lit up after dark, a modern innovation at that time. The illumination was provided by gas light regulated by automatic machinery and the old wooden turret or cupola was lined with asbestos to render it fireproof. The clock mechanism was sited in the constable's room in the Town Hall below and connected to the dial by wires.  

Total cost of the work was £47 14s. 1d. [£4,000 at today's values]. "The illuminated dial of the clock gives universal satisfaction", reported a local newspaper. "The new clock is a decided improvement for which the parish councillors may justly claim credit."   

The clock gave useful service although during the Great War of 1914-18, the striking mechanism was silenced in case it might be confused with an air raid or an invasion alert. The minutes of Bourne Urban District Council recorded in April 1916: "In compliance with an order from the Home Office, it was decided that the striker of the Town Hall clock be tied up for the duration." 

There was further disruption caused by a fire in 1933 and, ironically, it was the illumination system that caused the blaze which destroyed the tower. It occurred on October 31st, a Saturday market day when stalls were then erected along the kerbside in North Street in that area now known as the town centre. The arches underneath the Town Hall were also home to the fire brigade before moving to its present site in 1946 and so firemen were on hand to deal with an alert on their own doorstep when the smoke was seen billowing from the wooden clock tower above.   

It was late in the afternoon and although most traders were packing up and going home, the stalls had not been cleared away as firemen went to work with their pump escape. The blaze attracted many sightseers who gathered and watched the firemen at work as they directed their hoses at the clock tower, now gushing clouds of black smoke.  

During the action, Fireman Charles Moisey climbed into the tower with a branch hose to tackle the flames but was overcome by thick smoke and would have been suffocated had not colleagues pulled him out by his feet, the only method they could employ to rescue him. 

Eventually, the fire was extinguished although the clock tower was destroyed and an investigation later revealed that the gas lamp inside the cupola had overheated and caused the outbreak. 

The tower was never replaced but the clock survived relatively undamaged and the council decided to reinstall it on the pediment below where it can be seen today.  It has since been electrified but the original mechanism remains, housed in what is now a cupboard in a lavatory, a reminder of an age when it required regular winding to ensure that it kept the correct time, and with strict instructions as to how this should be done to ensure that the people of Bourne always knew the time of day.  

This ancient timepiece may now have outlived its usefulness but then a public clock, especially on the Town Hall, remains a part of our heritage and a constant reminder of the way things were.