This £14,000 four-sided clock has this week emerged as the front-runner to replace Highbridge’s crumbling landmark.

Members of Burnham and Highbridge Town Council’s Town Improvements Committee took a first look at the design of the proposed clock at their meeting on Wednesday evening (March 23rd).

It is one of two designs being considered to replace the existing three-faced clock in Highbridge’s Jubilee Gardens in time for next year’s Queen’s Jubilee.

Cllr Phoebe Harling, who chairs the council’s Town Improvements Committee, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “No final decisions have yet been made, but we like this design, which is one of two being considered.”

“Four clock faces, rather than three, are considered to be best because there are now four roads leading off the Highbridge roundabout as opposed to the three when the original three-faced clock was built.”

The clock will cost in the region of £14,000, but additional fees for a Georgian-style lighting column plus surrounding ground work will increase the final bill to around £20,000.

Burnham-On-Sea.com reported last year that Raglan Homes, which is building a new development of houses next to the town’s Asda store, has pledged to give around £10,000 of community funding towards the clock.

Acting Town Council Clerk Denise Emery told Wednesday’s meeting that she is seeking confirmation of how much funding will be available.

Highbridge town councillor Pat Burge said she likes the proposed design: “To me, it looks very close to the original even though it has the extra fourth face. I think it would look good in Highbridge.”

The current town clock – known as the ‘three-faced liar’ because its faces rarely tell the same time – is crumbling and needs to be replaced.

It 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 in the gardens.

The Town Council wants the new clock to be in place for next year’s Queen’s Jubilee and Cllr Neville Jones told Wednesday’s meeting that there is now “some urgency” about getting the final design and order completed.

 
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