14 June 2008 No Comment

BURNHAM’S clock tower has been returned to its people for the first time in more than 30 years.

But it has been a feature in the town for much longer than that.

Built in 1877 as a memorial to Laban Sweeting, a respected local resident, oyster merchant and a member of the Burnham River Company, the tower was built for £178 by the contractor Charles Read.

The clock was made by Gillet and Bland of London for a further £139.16s 11d.

It was reported that Mr Sweeting had meant so much to the town that news of his death brought the town to a standstill giving those in power little option but to produce a permanent memorial in his memory.

The clock tower was originally attached to the only school in Burnham at the time, the Endowed School, in 1863.

It was given to the Burnham school’s charity trust after completion in 1878 and then transfered to the Burnham Urban District Council in the early 20th century.

This council was dissolved in the 1970s and Maldon District Council took ownership of the clock tower which has now finally been passed back to the people of Burnham through Burnham Town Council.

The clock is a popular feature in the town, described by Burnham and District Museum curator Henry Potten as “the almost offical symbol of the town”, and has been especially important in the lives of those who were in charge of winding the clock before it was automated.

There is a plaque on the tower dedicated to Sid Harvey who wound the clock for 44 years from 1939 to 1983.

And a newcomer to the town in 1996, Victor Bell fell in love with the clock and wound it from 1997 to 2000 before he sadly died.

The Endowed School later became St Mary’s and was then converted into flats as St Mary’s moved to Marsh Road.

Source: Maldon and Burnham Standard article written by Adam Cornell