Published: August 5, 2009
Tough times mean Highbridge town clock will be boarded up

It's a sign of tough times, but the appearance of Highbridge's iconic town clock is about to change for the worse.

Two of the three faces are to be boarded up with decorative panels due to a lack of district council money to keep all the clock's faces running on time.

Sedgemoor District Council says it does not have enough funding to make repairs to the clock, which is known as the 'three-faced liar' because each face tells a different time.

A Town Council spokeswoman told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "Sedgemoor District Council has confirmed that it has no funding for repairs to the clock."

"The Clerk received an estimate of £300 to board over the incorrect faces of the clock, incorporating the Town Council logo. The work is to be undertaken using finances from the town council's miscellaneous Highbridge budget."

Highbridge district councillor Joe Leach said this week he is unhappy about the decision. He told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "I am disappointed that the council have voted to board it up. I believe this will add to the image of an 'abandoned town'."

"The clock is a prominent landmark, which whether it's telling the right time or the wrong, is recognised as soon as you go past it. This is setting a bad image to a town that is already suffering."

Burnham-On-Sea.com reported in June last year how a glass face on the iconic clock had been smashed by a vandal, much to the disbelief of local residents. The clock was later repaired and got a tough new perspex face.

The clock has a long history, having been built by Rainforths of Bridgwater and unveiled at Highbridge's Cornhill by the junction of Church Street and Market Street in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

The original clock was replaced in 1965, a year after a lorry demolished it and the current one was re-sited in 1972.

But it now looks as though the clock may not stand the test of today's difficult financial times...