Albert Memorial Clock Tower - Belfast
Posted by: 
SMacB
N 54° 36.049 W 005° 55.465
30U E 311103 N 6054302
The Albert Memorial Clock in Belfast containing a single 2 ton bell.
Waymark Code: WMV2NX
Location: Ulster, Ireland
Date Posted: 02/13/2017
Views: 9
A two tonne bell is housed in the tower and the clock was made by Francis Moore of High Street, Belfast.
"The Albert Memorial Clock was built between 1865 and 1869 in memory of Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert, after his death in 1861.
The former Belfast Corporation decided to build the clock tower because there wasn’t much architecture to show to visitors. There was a competition to design the clock and Newry architect William J Barre, who also designed the Ulster Hall, won.
It was erected near where Queen Victoria landed in Belfast in 1849. The clock strikes the hour and quarter hour and has been electrified in the last 15 years, which means that it is now electrically wound instead of manually wound.
“For years it had to be hand-wound and they appointed someone every year to do that. It would have been a big task. You would have had about 140 steps to climb up and down and it had to be changed twice a year,” explains Fitzsimons.
However, the tower was built on marshy land close to the Farset River and began to tilt shortly after it was erected. In 2002, more than £2 million was spent on renovations and new foundations to stop the tilt getting worse.
“The tilt created problems with the clock because once the pendulum is put off the angle it won’t work. That had to be adjusted regularly but now the building has been underpinned and it’s supposed to be stable. It’s leaning but isn’t leaning as much,” says Fitzsimons. The Albert clock was also famous during the 1980s because hundreds of people used to gather to ring in the new year and celebrated by smashing bottles on the tower."
Address of Tower:
Albert Memorial Clock
Queens Square
Belfast, Ireland
BT1 3FF
Still Operational: yes
Number of bells in tower?: 1
Relevant website?: [Web Link]
Rate tower: 
Tours or visits allowed in tower?: No
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Visit Instructions:
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