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You are here: HomenextBuildingsnextThe Clock Tower

The Clock Tower

The Clock Tower is now closed for the 2019 summer season but will open again for the afternoon of Sunday 17 November 2019 when the St Albans Christmas lights are turned on.

The Clock Tower will open for the next season on Good Friday 10 April 2020.

The Clock Tower of St Albans is the only medieval town belfry in England - kept open to the public by volunteers from this Society and the Civic Society. Find out more about the tower and its changing uses by following the links below.

  • The Clock Tower yesterday and today

    The Clock Tower yesterday and today

    St Albans has the only medieval town belfry in England, dating back to 1405. It rang the alarm at the first Battle of St Albans in 1455, and enabled rapid cross-country communication during the Napoleonic Wars, when it became a signalling station in 1805.
  • Images of the Clock Tower

    Images of the Clock Tower

    Here you can see images of the Clock Tower from the last few hundred years, including a short film showing the interior of the Clock Tower, and a 360 degree video taken from the top.
  • Become a Clockateer!

    Become a Clockateer!

    Help keep the Clocktower open to the public by joining the Society and becoming an occasional volunteer.
  • Clock Tower curios

    Clock Tower curios

    Years after young Zachariah Mountford scratched his initials in the stone of a room in the Clock Tower in 1709, he became a tenant of the building. Find out more about this about Clock Tower-related curiosities.
  • Last Orders at the Clock House: A beerhouse in the 19th century

    Last Orders at the Clock House: A beerhouse in the 19th century

    Nineteenth century residents of St Albans did not have far to go to find a pub, and for a while even the Clock House (as the Tower was then called) retailed beer.
  • The Walklate Family and the Clock Tower

    The Walklate Family and the Clock Tower

    Jeff Walkate writes about his ancestors, who ran a saddlery shop beneath the Clock Tower between 1874 and 1898.
  • F.G. Kitton: artist and illustrator

    F.G. Kitton: artist and illustrator

    Frederick Kitton was a 19th century journalist and illustrator. He was also a member of the Society, and wrote and illustrated an article about the Clock Tower for the Society's Transactions.
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