The Town Clock, also sometimes called the Old Town Clock or Citadel Clock Tower, is a clock tower located at Fort George in the urban core of Halifax, the capital city of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

History

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the commander-in-chief of the military forces of British North America, is credited with the idea of a clock for the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

garrison at Halifax, to resolve tardiness in the garrison. He arranged for a

turret clock A turret clock or tower clock is a clock designed to be mounted high in the wall of a building, usually in a clock tower, in public buildings such as Church (building), churches, university buildings, and town halls. As a public amenity to enab ...

to be manufactured before his return to England in 1800. The clock tower is a three-tiered (three storey), irregular octagon tower built atop a one-storey white clapboard building of classic Palladian proportions. It was erected on the east slope of Citadel Hill facing Barrack (now Brunswick) Street. The clock face is 4-sided, displaying Roman numerals. As with most clocks the "4" is shown as IIII for aesthetic symmetry and not as IV. The clock mechanism was constructed by the "House of Vulliamy", respected Royal Clockmakers based in London. It is driven by three weights, gears, and a 13-foot pendulum with the mechanism being housed in a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

frame located in the "clock room", immediately below the belfry. Its bell strikes hourly and quarterly and the durability of the mechanism (which dates to the original installation) is attributed to its slow movement. The Town Clock began keeping time for the garrison on October 20, 1803. The tower housing the Town Clock has been used in the past as a guard room and as a residence for the clock caretaker. The first caretaker of the Citadel Clock had the surname Dechman. Restoration work on the Town Clock has taken place at various times during the 20th century, with the property passing into the care of

Parks Canada Parks Canada ()Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 37 National Parks, three National Marine Co ...

, which has responsibility for the Citadel Hill National Historic Site. The caretaker position ceased in 1965 with its maintenance now being performed by Citadel Hill employees, who wind the clock mechanism twice weekly. A major restoration project in 1960 saw the exterior façade of the Town Clock building returned to its original Georgian appearance and roof replaced due to water damage. George Rose, a parks employee recorded this restoration. Another restoration was carried out in 2005 to restore the clock's faces. New copper roofing and restored clock face/hands were done in 2018. As a Halifax icon, the Town Clock has featured in many artworks, fictional and non-fictional accounts of Halifax. One among many is a depiction of the town clock as a character named Chimey in the children's television show '' Theodore Tugboat''.

References

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External links

Parks Canada, Halifax Citadel National Historic Site - The Town Clock

History

References

External links

See also