The Clock Tower was made by a firm in Croydon, England, called Messrs. Gillet & Johnson, which had gained good reputation for specializing in making, on commission, that particular kind of clock tower in three different sizes. These were known as “Little Big Bens” in reference to the clock tower of the House of Parliament in London which was erected in 1859 (named after Sir Benjamin Hall 1802-1867). The Clock Tower made of cast iron came dismantled in nine cases by mail steamer. On February 11, 1903, seven cases arrived, the other two having been mistakenly carried to Mauritius! These arrived on March 11, 1903 and encountered further mishaps. While being transferred from steamer to lighter, one of the “movement weights” with a mass of 60 lbs was dropped overboard. A blacksmith by the name of Mr. William Vaudin (1866-1919) who was the Superintendent of Public Works made an ingenious replacement at the cost of SR15.81. The sum of SR1, 200.00 was spent on the foundation work, which took 17 days and was carried out by six workers, four Seychellois and two Indian workers. It is pertinent to note here that during the first decade of the 20th century dozens of immigrants workers from Madras, India were put to use in manual labour. The erection of the Clock Tower took nine days to complete. Winches and pulleys were used to lift up, assemble and connect the various parts. The last rivet of the Clock Tower was driven on March 27, 1903. A commemorative plate and wrought iron gate were made at the cost of £300.00 and oil lamps were fixed on the four sides. The Clock Tower was originally black which made it look more like a giant grandfather’s clock made of oak. In 1935, at the recommendation of the Governor, Gordon James Lethem (1886-1962), the Victoria City Council decided that it should be painted with a coating of aluminum silver to mark the silver jubilee of King V (1865-1936). In the 1960s, its four lamps were replaced with new ones which were attached to the structure itself.
Over the years our beloved ‘Lorloz’ which stands 25 feet high, weighs 5 tons and has four dials which measures 2½ feet in diameter each has seen monumental changes take place in our capital. Rectangular wooden buildings with corrugated iron roofs and verandahs have been replaced by five storey edifices of concrete, glass and steel. Charming little houses with chimneys have yielded place to internet cafés, fashion boutiques, fast food restaurants and supermarkets. And the commotion of rickshaw pullers and draymen has been replaced by the noise and chaos of discordant traffic, the jarring sounds of screeching breaks and the nasty emission of gasoline smoke. The Clock Tower was declared a National Monument in 1989. Did the clock ever chime? Well, no. Apparently, since the very first day the apparatus that should have struck the bell never worked and from then on nobody was concerned with the chiming of the clock or rather, the lack of it. Although now it does chime – the sound of its bell was first heard in Victoria on September 17th, 1999, after the Clock Tower had undergone a major renovation including the replacement of its spring-driven mechanism by an electronic one, which interestingly enough was obtained from the still existing makers of the Clock Tower, Messrs Gillet & Johnstone. Mr. Eddie Belle, Chairman of the National Monuments Board, visited the firm in the U.K to select the appropriate one. Mr. Brian Mazzorchi constructed the metal container at the base of the Clock Tower in which the electronic devices are enclosed. This consists of a dynamotor and a digital clock which coordinates the function of the four clocks, and adjusts the hands of the clock whenever there is an electrical cut. Sheer ingenuity! A major breakdown happened in March 1994 when the balance weight weighing around 75 kg suddenly dropped, breaking the linkage system that controlled the entire clockwork mechanism. Mr. John Gouffe, a mechanic of Majoie, well known for his proficiency in dealing with technical defects of that sort, repaired it promptly and before much time could elapse the clocks were back in perfect working order. But not for long.
Sometime in April 1996, the time on the clock facing west was set back by five minutes after pigeons had perched on its minute hand! In the 1960s, a well known mechanic named Gilbert Palmyre (1912-1992) was assigned the noble responsibility of maintaining the Clock Tower. He had the daily task of winding up the Clock Tower mechanism and ensuring that the time on the four clocks corresponds to Greenwich Mean Time. Mr. Palmyre is also credited for setting up the first garage and first car hire business in Seychelles. For over fifteen years, he was known as the “care taker” of the Clock Tower. He died in 1992 aged 80 years. In 1978, Mr. William Lespoir, a young mechanic barely out of his teens, was given the custody of the Clock Tower and has been its best friend ever since. The story of the Clock Tower has not remained unflavoured with local mythology. A tale that was popular in the 1920s tells that when workers were digging the ground to build the foundation for the Clock Tower, they had unearthed the skeletal remains of a young nun who perished in the great landslide (‘lavalas’) that had happened on the night of October 12, 1862. In dire consequence of that, the “ghost” of the young nun had been disturbed. From then on, every year on October 12 at midnight the clock chimed and inhabitants of Victoria claimed to have seen the figure of a nun hurrying through the town’s streets. And always, on the following morning, broken rosary beads were found scattered near the Clock Tower. These were picked up and kept or worn as amulets!
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