Restoration of 18th Century Blenheim Palace Clock Tower

Seven-week restoration programme launched at Blenheim Palace on 18th Century Clock Tower

The Built Heritage and Palace Collections teams at Blenheim Palace have joined forces to launch an extensive seven-week restoration programme of works on the 18th century Clock Tower located at the entrance to the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s Great Courtyard.

Work has already started with a 10-day process of complex scaffold build to gain access to all four faces of the clock and a second tier to reach the decorative Golden Ball at the top of the tower.

Once the scaffold build is complete, a four-week restoration programme on the four clock faces and gilding of the golden ball will commence followed by a week to dismantle the scaffolding structure.

These essential works are being carried out as the old clock face paint is sun bleached and starting to peel, particularly on the east and southern face. As a result, the gilded numerals on the clock face have also started to fade.

The significant restoration works will require the removal of all existing paint and gilding off each clock face, the repair of each face as necessary and repainting with Capri Blue Paint to match the original specification. Following this, the teams will regild each numeral, border, and hands with 23.5ct double gold leaf. During the gilding and painting process, the four sets of dial motion works will be removed, thoroughly cleaned, and stripped of all old oil and accumulated dirt. This phase of the conservation will be carried out by The Cumbria Clock Company under the direction of clock conservator Keith Scobie-Youngs.

The clock in the tower is considered the finest surviving example of the craftsmanship of renowned clockmaker Langley Bradley. The movement, dated 1710, was made just a year after Bradley completed his masterpiece at St Paul’s Cathedral. The Blenheim installation includes several distinctive features known to have appeared in the St Paul’s clock, such as finely turned corner posts and fleur-de-lys motifs on various train bars. No other surviving Bradley clocks are known to incorporate these and other unique details.

Whilst the work on the clock faces is being carried out, Blenheim Palace will also be working on the Golden Ball on top of the tower which will require full removal of the existing gilding and base coat stripping back to the original Copper ball. The Golden Ball will also have any indentations removed, primed, base coat repainted and gilded in 23.5ct double weight gold leaf sheets.

The project is being led by Chris Monaghan, Clerk of Works in the Blenheim Palace Built Heritage team and Carmen Alvarez the Blenheim Palace Collections Manager.

To conduct the vital restoration work, Britain’s Greatest Palace has appointed Apex Scaffolding, Oxford Iron Company for the gilding works of the Golden Ball and Clock face’s restoration and The Cumbria Clock Company for the vital clock repairs and conservation.