Clocks - The Leighton Buzzard Society

The Leighton Buzzard Society

A TALE OF TWO CLOCKS
During the latter part of the 20th Century, the Leighton Buzzard & District Preservation Society (now known as the Leighton Buzzard Society) was instrumental in securing the preservation of two of the town’s historical clocks. These were the clock which came from St Andrew’s School in Church Street and the one from the Corn Exchange in Lake Street.

St Andrew’s School Clock

St Andrew’s Church of England School opened in 1872. It stood next to the new St Andrew’s Church which had been consecrated on July 11th 1867. It was between Church Street and St Andrew’s Street, where St Andrew’s Close now is.   More detail about the history of the school can be found at Bedford and Luton Archives

In 1871 Miss Charlotte Willis gave a clock to complete the clock tower of St Andrew’s School, which was at that time being built. The Clock, which was to be for the benefit of the townspeople, was supplied by Mr J. Lamb, a Leighton Buzzard jeweller, and was described at the time as a "good one" with a 3 feet black painted copper dial with gilded figures; substantial works and an hour bell weighing one hundredweight.   It was manufactured by one of the best Clerkenwell firms. Miss Willis also gave £83-6-8 invested in 3% Consolidated Stock (producing 50 shillings a year) for the upkeep of the clock.

The description of the clock as a good one was proved by the clock still keeping good time a hundred years later when the school closed in July 1971. As the building was to be demolished, St Albans Diocesan Board of Finance offered the clock to Leighton-Linslade Urban District Council as a gift. Initially, the Council was keen to accept the clock with the idea of incorporating it in the Bossard Centre. However, after inspection by their Engineer and Surveyor, they withdrew their acceptance because the cost of removal and restoration was considered prohibitive.

Mr Arthur Betts of Stoke Hammond offered the Diocesan Board of Finance £20 for the clock, and after checking with the incumbent that no one in Leighton Buzzard would be upset at the clock going to Stoke Hammond without having a chance to purchase it, Mr Betts’ offer was accepted. He was asked to remove it by the end of January 1972.[5]

On 28th September 1973, the clock was purchased from Mr Betts by Mr S T Dancer for the Preservation Society for £125. Mr Betts said that he could have obtained more for the clock, but that would have entailed it going to America, which he did not want to happen. Mrs Agnes Buckmaster, whose mother, Mrs Louisa Rose, was headmistress at the school in the early 20th Century, reimbursed Mr Dancer so that the clock might be re-installed where it could once again be enjoyed by the townspeople.

Mr Betts had the clock working in his workshop, but further work on it was needed. The Preservation Society arranged for this to be done by John Smith & Sons of Derby.

Various locations were considered for the restored clock.

One suggestion was to incorporate the clock in the church Lych Gate, which has been retained at the Church Street access to St Andrew’s Close. H A Rolls and Partners, the architects in Bridge Street, produced a drawing of how this might be done but the result was not satisfactory. The clock dominated the Lych Gate and, taking into account the considerable strengthening the Lych Gate would need to support it, H A Rolls advised that this did not seem a very suitable location for the clock.

Mary Basset Primary School also offered to give it a home. This proposal seems to have foundered on the likely cost of a suitable tower to house the clock.

The old Cedars School was also proposed, on the assumption that the building was going to be the new Library. However, in March 1974 it was learned that a site in Lake Street had been purchased for the new Library and it was subsequently agreed with Bedfordshire County Council that the clock could be located in the stair well of the new Library building. The Council provided an aluminium and glass tower for the clock, produced by Aluminium Systems Limited of Sheffield.

In the course of the restoration consideration was given to fitting an automatic winding mechanism. John Oram, the Society Chairman, designed a ‘climbing weight’ system for this purpose, but John Smith and Sons considered this type of mechanism unreliable. In the end it was decided to retain hand-winding in the interest of historical authenticity.

By a Deed of Gift dated October 1st 1979 Mrs Buckmaster formally gave the Clock to the Preservation Society and at the same time paid the Preservation Society for the cost of its restoration by John Smith & Sons. On October 19th 1979 the Clock together with the St Andrew’s School Bell was formally put into the custodianship of the Bedfordshire County Council and into the ownership of the Trustees to hold them on behalf of the townspeople of Leighton Buzzard and Linslade. The Bedfordshire County Council undertook as part of their custodianship:-

(a)     To keep the clock in an honoured position in the Leighton Buzzard Library and maintain it for the enjoyment and instruction of the townspeople;

(b)     To include the clock and the items housed in the Clock tower covered by the same insurance (which excludes damage by vandalism) as the other contents of the building, also to similarly insure against the Clock or other items causing harm to third parties;

(c)      To keep the clock in action by hand-winding covered by a servicing arrangement with professional Clock makers.

There was a ceremony in the library on 26th October 1979 to mark the occasion.[8]

When the annual service of the clock was made in 2009, Smiths of Derby advised that tightening of the strike winding ratchet was not guaranteed to hold and really a more extensive repair costing £2350 was required. They also offered to replace it with an automatic winding unit at about £4300. Neither of these options was proceeded with.

Corn Exchange Clock

Leighton Buzzard Corn Exchange stood in Lake Street, where Exchange Parade now stands. (The portico of Exchange Parade references the Corn Exchange portico.) The Corn Exchange was built in 1862 and, in addition to serving as a corn exchange, was used as an assembly room for various town functions. There was a clock mounted on the front of the balcony, and, when the building was demolished in 1966, Arthur Betts rescued it in a very damaged state from a bonfire. He gave it to the Leighton Buzzard & District Preservation Society in October 1979 and members and friends of the Society restored it. The dial was restored by Ron Smith, John Clark donated the pendulum and the glass was the gift of Pymans, jewellers in the town. The clock is now the property of the same trust as St Andrew’s School clock

The Leighton-Linslade Town Council welcomed the suggestion that the Clock should be installed in the new Council Offices adjacent to the Bossard Hall in West Street. The Council formally agreed to accept the Clock on long term loan from the Trust and to keep it in use, maintain, protect and insure it for the benefit of the local community. The Clock was formally handed over to the Town Mayor, Mrs. Lesley Gibbons by John A. Oram, Chairman of the Society and a Trustee of the Trust, at the unveiling ceremony in Bossard House on 8th May 1989.[9]

When the Council moved to the White House the clock went too. It now hangs in the entrance to greet visitors on arrival.

The clock has an eight day spring and fuse pendulum movement. The date 1861 is roughly marked on the rear of the dial and this agrees with the Corn Exchange being opened in October 1862. The name E. J. Pyman on the dial cannot be original as Pymans only came to the town in 1919. It was probably added when Pymans did a major overhaul of the clock including repainting the dial. The glass, the pendulum and the hands were missing and have been replaced. The design of the original hands was not known but the new ones are typical of that age of clock.

The Trust

We are not aware of any existing copy of the original deed of trust under which Miss Charlotte Willis endowed St Andrew’s School clock in 1871. That trust was replaced by a new trust deed in October 1979. The trust deed was drafted by the Society’s honorary legal advisor, Michael Kemp, on instructions from John Oram. As there were then no surviving trustees of the original trust, and the new trust was going to carry on the many of its functions, the funds of the original trust were transferred to the new trust.

The formal name of the new trust is “The Trust of the St Andrew’s School Clock 1979”

The trust deed commences with an unusually full recital of the history of the clock. This was inserted at the request of John Oram to ensure that the information would not be forgotten.

The trustees are the holders of the following offices, ex officio:

The Town Mayor (Chairman)

The Chairman of the Leighton Buzzard Preservation Society

The Manager of the Leighton Buzzard Branch of Barclays Bank

The aims of the trust are:

(a)   To hold on behalf of the townspeople of Leighton Buzzard and Linslade the aforesaid Clock and various other related items

(b)   To ensure the long term security and maintenance in good condition of the clock

(c)   To keep the Clock running and in first class original order

(d) To display it so as to optimise the enjoyment and instruction of the townspeople

(e)   To have at least annual servicing by professional clockmakers, preferably John Smith & Sons of Derby

(f)   To ensure the Clock and the associated items are covered by insurance the Trustees are covered by Third Party Insurance should any of the Trust property cause damage or injury

(g)   To make every effort to ensure continued hand winding and resist the addition of electric winding mechanism unless this is the only way to keep the clock running

What appears to be the first meeting of the Trustees took place on 27th June 1983. At this meeting it was agreed that the Town Clerk should be the Secretary to the trustees.

Reorganisation of Barclays business meant that there was nobody identifiable as the manager of the Leighton Buzzard Branch, so consideration was given to appointing a different trustee.

Since 1979 St Andrew's clock has resided in Leighton Buzzard Library. Today Central Bedfordshire Council insures and carries out maintenance.
In 2024 the clock was electrified by Smiths of Derby as Central Beds Council no longer employed a caretaker for the building. A local trust provide the funds to all this to happen.
The trustees today are the Town Clerk, Chair and Treasurer of The Leighton Buzzard Society.
There is no longer a Barclays Bank in the town.

[Last edited: December 2024]