Eastgate Clock — Attraction in City of Chester

THE EASTGATE CLOCK IS IN THE TOWN OF CHESTER CHESHIRE ENGLAND IT STANDS AT THE ENTRANCE TO EASTGATE STREET in CHESTER AND STANDS ON THE ORIGINAL ENTRANCE TO THE ROMAN FORTRESS OF DEVA VICTRIX ITS A PROMINENT LANDMARK IN THE CITY OF CHESTER THE ORIGINAL GATE WAS WAS GUARDED BY A TIMBER TOWER THEN REPLACED BY A STONE TOWER IN THE SECOND CENTURY AND THEN REPLACED IN AROUND THE 14 CENTURY THE PRESENT GATEWAY DATES FROM 1768 AND IS A THREE ARCHED SANDSTONE STRUTURE AND FORMS PART OF CHESTER CITY WALLS THE CLOCK WAS ADDED TO THE TOP OF THE GATEWAY IN 1899 TO CELEBRATE QUEEN VICTORIA DIAMOND JUBILEE THE CLOCK HAS FOUR FACES IT WAS DESIGNED BY CHESTER ARCHITECT JOHN DOUGLAS , ITS A STUNNING PIECE OF WORK AND WHEN THE SUN SHINES ON IT LOOKS AMAZING IT IS SAID THAT THE CLOCK TOWER WAS ERECTED IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 60TH YEAR OF QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN . IT IS SAID TO BE THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED CLOCK AFTER BIG BEN BENEATH EACH CLOCK FACE IN GILT IS THE DATE 1897 ,THE CLOCKS FACES AND MECHANISM WERE PAID FOR BY EDWARD EVANS - LLOYD A LOCAL SOLICITOR AND FREEMAN OF CHESTER WHILE THE CLOCK MECHANISM WAS MADE IN 1887 BY J B JOYCE & COMPANY OF WHITECHURCH SHROPSHIRE WHO UNTILL 1774 SUPPLIED A TECHNICIAN TO TRAVEL TO CHESTER EACH WEEK TO WIND IT .IVT TRULY IS A MAGNIFICENT PIECE OF ARCHITECTURE AND WELL...

I’ve been to Chester a few times and this clock is one of the landmarks of the old city – situated up on the walls, above the gateway (Eastgate), you can walk up and stand directly underneath. When you do you feel really close to the clock and can sense the passing of time.

The bridge under the clock is also a good place to stand and watch passers by on the street beneath and to take a few selfies, with the clock… of course.

The clock is best visited early in the morning, just after dawn, when it is quiet. Apparently, this is the second most photographed clock in Britain, after Big Ben. I’m not sure about that, as there are certainly other clocks that I like to take pictures of more than either of those, but it is certainly plausible.

I read that the manufacturer of the clock supplied a maintenance crew up until 1974 to visit the clock weekly and wind it – not clear why they stopped at that point, but the clock has certainly done well if it hasn’t been wound since.

There is another clock further up the road, at the end of Foregate Street – don’t photograph that one by mistake. It has it’s own charm but it isn’t the famous clock – it’s a more...

The clock has a face on each of its four sides, and is supported on an open-work wrought iron pavilion on pylons with a round arch on each side. Its plinth is inscribed on each face. The inscription on the east side reads "THIS CLOCK TOWER WAS ERECTED IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 60TH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF VICTORIA, QUEEN AND EMPRESS", on the west side "ANTIQUI COLANT ANTIQUUM DIERUM: B.C. ROBERTS, MAYOR 1897; J.C. HOLMES, MAYOR 1898", on the south side "THIS CLOCK WAS ERECTED BY EDWARD EVANS-LLOYD CITIZEN AND FREEMAN 1897", and on the north side "ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION & COMPLETED A.D. 1899 H. STOLTEFORTH MAYOR". Beneath each clock face in gilt is the date 1897, and above each face, again in gilt, the initials "VR". Over the clock is a copper ogee cupola which is surmounted by a weather vane with lions rampant or on gules background. It is the second most photographed clock in the UK after big...