Over £2,300 has been received in public donations to fund a new Highbridge town clock, but councillors are awaiting the results of a structural survey before proceeding with the project.
The money has poured in since August, when Burnham-On-Sea.com was first to report that two of the clock’s three faces are set to be boarded up with decorative panels due to a lack of district council cash to carry out repairs to the clock’s faces.
A structural engineer will shortly examine several large cracks in the column, pictured, and assess its overall condition before any money is spent on the clock itself.
The town council’s deputy town clerk, Denise Emery, confirmed to Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Any possible replacement of the clock is on hold while we await the findings of the structural engineer.”
She added that by Thursday (October 1st) a total of £2,310 had been received in donations from the general public towards the clock.
The clock has a long history, having been built by Rainforths of Bridgwater and unveiled at Highbridge’s Cornhill by the junction of Church Street and Market Street in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.
The original clock was replaced in 1965, a year after a lorry demolished it and the current one was re-sited in 1972.
