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Mystery over unclaimed clock frozen in time

Jack Hadaway-Wellerin Scarborough
News imageBBC The exterior of a building with a round clock hanging from the side. The clock has two gold coloured hands and is attached to a decorative black metal bracket with gold detailing.The clock, which is wrong, reads 6:25.BBC
The clock face depicts a version of Scarborough's crest with a boat and a castle

In Scarborough town centre hangs a broken ornate clock whose ownership remains a mystery. With no-one accepting responsibility for the landmark, the town's civic society is calling for someone to step forward to get the timepiece ticking again.

Mounted high on a wall where Westborough and Newborough meet, the gold‑gilded clock has stood frozen for two years - stuck at the moment it stopped working.

Originally commissioned in 1988 by the now‑defunct Scarborough Borough Council, attempts to establish who now owns it have got nowhere.

Keen to get to the bottom of the mystery and see it returned to proper time keeping, Adrian Perry from Scarborough Civic Society said: "Our members started asking 'what's happening about the clock?' So we started to try and find out."

News imageA man stood in a pedestrianised street in a commercial town centre. He is wearing glasses, a dark coat and a multi-coloured check scarf. In the background, a clock can be seen mounted above one of the buildings.
Adrian Perry says the deterioration of the clock is 'not a good look' for Scarborough

When Scarborough Borough Council was abolished in April 2023, its responsibilities transferred to the newly formed North Yorkshire Council.

But after contacting both North Yorkshire Council and Scarborough Town Council, Perry said neither authority laid claim to the clock.

In a recent update to councillors, an officer said: "I've checked with colleagues across the property, highways and culture teams, and we've been unable to find any records showing that North Yorkshire Council owns or has maintenance responsibility for this clock."

North Yorkshire Council said the clock fell under the remit of the lower level authority, Scarborough Town Council, created in 2025.

But the town council disputes that - with mayor Thomas Murray insisting: "North Yorkshire Council need to look into their archives."

News imageA narrow pedestrian street lined with older-style buildings on both sides. At the top of the scene is a black overhead sign with gold text that reads: 'Bar Street'.
The clock is opposite the entrance to Bar Street

He added: "Like with many things in Scarborough and probably across North Yorkshire, when North Yorkshire Council was created with the amalgamation of all the borough councils, there was a lot of information lost and not carried over and I think this clock is one of those examples."

Frustrated, the civic society explored repairing the clock themselves. But with costs estimated at £20,000, Perry said it was far beyond what they could fund alone.

"We'd originally thought it would be £5,000 or £6,000 and the civic society would put half in and maybe we'd get some grant funding from elsewhere," he said.

"But £20,000 is really out of our reach."

With no authority accepting responsibility, the timepiece is now suspended in uncertainty.

Perry fears that unless someone steps forward soon, the clock may quietly disappear altogether.

"We need to get it going. At the moment, it's a clock that isn't a clock," he said.

"It makes the place feel run down. I wouldn't be surprised if I walked down this street tomorrow and found that it had disappeared."

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