Dockyard Clock Tower Repair

The weekend of the 13th September saw the repair of the stone finial and weather vane of the old dockyard clock tower in a project paid for by Government but project managed by the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.

It was during the construction of Bay View Terraces in 2006/7 that one of the engineers on site noticed what appeared to be a crack in the stone of the crown of the Clock Tower. Upon further investigation it was concluded the stone had a considerable crack and was thus unsafe. The Clock Tower had recently been cleaned and refurbished but for some unknown reason this fault had been missed out, perhaps it was not so obvious at the time of the refurbishment works, although evidence suggests that the stone may have been hit by a crane or its load at some point, probably after the refurbishment works had taken place. 

The Trust has been anxious for the finial to be repaired since this time as the concern was that the stone, together with the original weather vane, might get misplaced and eventually lost if it was left in 'storage' indefinitely.

Following discussions with Steven Linares the Minister for Heritage, the Trust, approached a total of ten different contractors with a view of obtaining quotes for the works. Out of the ten only one contractor provided a quote, the others concluded that the element of risk involved with the job as well as the preparatory work that were required did not make the task attractive. 

Government finally agreed the quote and under the supervision of the Trust the works were carried out. The stone was securely fixed to the tower and the weather vane was refurbished and fitted to the stone. The Clock Tower is therefore once again complete.

The Gibraltar Heritage Trust is proud to work with Government on heritage restoration projects.