Kirkcaldy Town House clock repairs - the tricky challenge after council approval

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The tricky task of re-instating the hands at a landmark clock above the Town House in Kirkcaldy has moved a step closer.

Fife Council has secured listed building consent to carry out the work and also refurbish the weathervane which sits above it - but it will be a complicated process for specialists to carry out.

​The device has sat without its hands for a number of months. The weathervane and the copper sphere were removed early in 2021 after they started to list. During the operation to remove these, a section of steel fixing tube it was mounted on could not be removed and remains 'trapped” within the tower.

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Internal access up through the tower to retrieve was not possible due to the confined space of the original design so the council wants to temporarily remove the copper cladding around the tower to allow the the tubing to be taken down for inspection of the existing supporting structural frame of the tower with any defects or weaknesses repaired and strengthened. The existing cladding panels would also be inspected, repaired and reinstated if required.

How the clock used to look before the hands were removed (Pic: Scott Louden)How the clock used to look before the hands were removed (Pic: Scott Louden)
How the clock used to look before the hands were removed (Pic: Scott Louden)

The planning application also wants to sort out the clock hands.

All four sets were described in planning papers as “in extremely poor condition” with one hand already broken and another having been blown away during high winds.

A report from a watchmaker outlined the scale of the task ahead.

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It said: “Reinstallation is going to be very complicated due to the cut off piece of the original vane shaft which remains inside the structure. There appears to be no way to remove this without opening up the top part of the tower to expose the structural steelwork – this is likely to require a scaffolding around the tower, and possibly an internal platform which allows good access to the structure from underneath.

”Only once the piece of original shaft has been removed and the internal structure closely examined can we proceed with designing and remanufacturing the weathervane for reinstallation. No further action can be taken until the feasibility of dismantling the top of the tower has been considered and suitable access has been made available.”

The work must be carried out within three years - a standard timescale as part of the approval.

The clock tower was designed by David Carr of Edinburgh. The vane was designed by Thomas Hadden of Edinburgh.

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