The clock tower atop The Hall for Cornwall and Truro City’s municipal building underwent a complete rebuild and restoration, saving it from disrepair.

History

Built in 1858, this Grade II listed building originally housed the municipal buildings for Truro City Council. In 1914, a large fire ravaged through the halls and gutted much of the building, alongside partially destructing the clock tower. The whole building was rebuilt, to some extent. The north face of the clock tower, facing Boscawen Street, was the only face that remained in its original granite form. The rest of the walls were reconstructed using steel and in-situ concrete, rendered to give the appearance of granite.

Over the intervening years, the clock tower, being exposed to the weather, gradually degraded, and the steel work used to reinforce the concrete became severely corroded. As a result, there was no alternative for the tower other than complete removal and rebuilding.

A new challenge

A real one-off challenge, Fox Construction Solutions were delighted to be asked to get involved with the delivery of this project. Following extensive surveys and design development, works started on site in June 2022. Extensive enabling work had to be undertaken, which included the shrink wrapping of the clock tower structure. It also meant removing the existing scaffolding, which was already in place from the completed renovations of the Hall for Cornwall. And due to the nature of the site, residing in a high-traffic area in the centre of Truro, a solid hoarding needed to be erected to protect the public from site works.

Construction is underway

To undertake these works at up to 27 metres above street level, a crane had to be erected on-site, capable of lifting the heaviest component of the re-build – up to 4 tonnes! The clock tower structure begins at 15 meters above street level, is 8 metres high itself, and is topped with a 4 metre weathervane. This highlights the essential role of the crane in providing access throughout the re-build, along with freshly erected scaffolding that traverses the entire structure. All of this had to be in place before the dismantling process could commence.

Dismantling itself started in October 2022 and progressed without issue, with the careful removal of the weathervane, clock faces and the internal clock mechanism. These were stored safely at Cumbria Clocks until the time came to refurbish them and put them back in place. Behind the scenes at this time, the replacement precast concrete mouldings were being manufactured ready for reinstallation.

A fresh start for the clock tower

In December 2022, the four original bells were removed from the belfry and sent to Dorset, for full restoration works. As the original granite façade was dismantled, each granite block was recorded, labelled and stored safely.

Over the final months of the project, reconstruction work commenced. Work was undertaken to ensure that the building below was watertight, enabling the removal of the shrink wrap coverings prior to the installation of the precast columns, clock faces and architraves.

The tower was reconstructed in the reverse sequence, and the pre-cast concrete elements, all with a granite appearance, were installed on three sides of the clocktower. Honouring the heritage of Truro, on the final and north façade facing Boscawen Street, the original granite blocks were put back in their place, emerging safely from their storage.

A large milestone was reached in July 2023, when the refurbished bells were craned back into their original position. This was very exciting for the city of Truro, with the sound of the iconic bells having been missed for years. After just a few more months, the clocktower was back to all its glory, with full restoration of the clocktower, clock mechanism and faces complete, along with the pealing of the bells filling the streets of Truro once again. The clocktower is now ready to serve Truro for another 100 to 150 years.

An exciting future for Truro

Fox Construction Solutions successfully completed this intricate project in October 2023. With The Hall for Cornwall building, and its clock tower above, being such an important part of Truro’s history and landscape, we are proud to have worked on a project that not only holds so much importance for the area, but for the people of Truro, and our team.

Taking on this reconstruction is another demonstration of the broad range of skills that the Fox Construction team have at their disposal. The clock tower was an interesting and positive challenge, having gone from strength to strength. Reflecting on its completion, it remains one of the projects we are most proud of, and a career highlight for several members of our team.

For any and all construction and development enquiries, be sure to get in touch to see how we can help.