Just in time... Chamberlain Clock to chime once more
BIRMINGHAM Jewellery Quarter’s famous Chamberlain Clock is set to chime once more after years of silence.
The landmark clock will be reinstated on the roundabout junction of Warstone Lane and Vyse Street this weekend.
It will sit alongside a new ‘interpretation panel’, which will explore the history of the clock and its namesake, Joseph Chamberlain, former Birmingham mayor and Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Since its removal in August 2020, the clock has been restored to its former glory by specialist Midlands clockmakers Smith of Derby.
The project included treatment of the cast iron column with new gold leaf while the clock movement and bell have been repaired, ensuring it will chime once again.
The refurbishment was pledged within the Jewellery Quarter Business Improvement District’s (JQBID) 2017 renewal proposal and led by the Jewellery Quarter Development Trust (JQDT).
Luke Crane, executive director of the JQDT said: “The Chamberlain Clock is a historic part of our city and we’re honoured to be able to deliver on its restoration to its former glory.
“The addition of a new historic interpretation panel is also a crucial part of this project to ensure we’re telling balanced stories about the impact of our city’s historical figures.”
The content for the panel has been produced by three young ‘co-curators’, Rahma Mohamed, Chelsea Mills and Salim Dabo as part of the ‘2 Visions 2 Legacies’ project.
The research carried out over the last few months will also be displayed online and will inform a short film they are making which explores the lives of Joseph Chamberlain and Warrulan, an Aboriginal Australian who is buried in Warstone Lane Cemetery.
The restoration was paid for with funds raised by the JQBID and the Jewellery Quarter Townscape Heritage (JQTH) project, a National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) scheme, which contributed £75,000 to the restoration and over £1.8 million to the JQTH project overall. Anne Jenkins, of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “The reinstalment of the Chamberlain Clock is a positive step in the ongoing regeneration of the Jewellery Quarter.
“This project has given local young people the opportunity to not only learn about heritage, but to become truly involved in it.
“Giving people a chance to have a closer understanding and relationship to heritage is something we are proud to fund”.
Rahma Mohamed, one of the ‘co-curators’, said: “It has been really interesting getting to research the Chamberlain Memorial Clock and the wider persona of Joseph Chamberlain.
“His popularity as mayor and then MP for Birmingham has been well-documented, and through this memorial to his role as Secretary of State for the Colonies, we can appreciate the true extent of that.
“Focusing on the Clock has also given us an avenue to explore the global influence of Chamberlain and to gain a more balanced understanding of his legacy, beyond Birmingham.”