The Grade II listed nineteenth century clock tower is a notable landmark in the City and is located on the Friary opposite Festival Gardens.
The building of clock towers was quite fashionable in the mid 1800’s. In 1863 the Friary Clock Tower was constructed on the junction of Bird Street & Bore Street, the site of the ancient Crucifix Conduit that supplied water to the Friary from 1301. Other sites including the Market Square, had previously been suggested and dismissed.
The 11 acre Friary site was sold to Sir Richard Ashmole Cooper in 1920, and was then donated to the City for the purpose of developing the area. Due to ever increasing traffic congestion from the start of the 20th century, the road called the Friary was then built across the Friary site in the late 1920’s.After standing in its original location for some 60 years, the clock tower was dismantled and rebuilt in its current position.