Dent Clock, St Pancras Station

Dent clock, St Pancras station

The St Pancras station platform clock—often referred to as the Dent London clock—is the large dial clock mounted at the south end of the Barlow trainshed at St Pancras railway station (St Pancras International) in London. The present clock, installed in November 2007 as part of the station's restoration for High Speed 1, was made by Dent London, the makers of Big Ben, and has an 18 feet (5.5 m) dial with Welsh-slate hour markers and gilded numerals.[1][2] It stands above Paul Day's 9-metre bronze sculpture The Meeting Place on the station's Grand Terrace.[3][4]

History

Victorian origin

When St Pancras opened on 1 October 1868[5] a “massive” slate-dial clock was set high at the south end of the trainshed. Contemporary sources recorded its diameter as 16 feet 9 inches (5.1 m)—then “the largest clock at any railway station in England”—with a 4 feet 5 inches (1.3 m) hour hand and a 7 feet 3 inches (2.2 m) minute hand. According to the station operator's historical account (citing Williams, 1877), all the station's clocks were constructed by John Walker of Cornhill, London; the platform clock's dial was of slate.[6]

Removal, accident and Roland Hoggard

In 1968 the original dial was taken down during modernisation works[7] and it was dropped and shattered when being removed. The incident entered railway lore after Midland guard Roland Hoggard purchased the fragments for £25, transported them to his farm in Thurgarton, Nottinghamshire, and painstakingly re-assembled a working clock on the side of his barn.[8]

A frequently repeated claim states the clock had been sold to an American collector for £250,000 before the accident; this is reported in contemporary and later features,[8][9] though HS1's own history notes that “no documentary evidence” for such a sale has been found.[6]

British Rail subsequently installed a glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) replacement dial, upgraded in 1985, which served until the station's comprehensive restoration in the 2000s.[6]

Hoggard's barn-mounted reconstruction later became an important reference: Dent London engineers and clockmakers took moulds from surviving parts and analysed the slate numerals to match the original source.[1] Hoggard was invited to the royal ceremony that reopened St Pancras International in November 2007.[10][11]

Accounts state that when Hoggard died in 2013, surviving parts of his reconstructed clock (including hands and mechanism) went to the British Horological Institute's Museum of Timekeeping at Upton Hall, Nottinghamshire.[12][13] (The Museum's site provides general information about its collections and location at Upton Hall.)[14]

2007 reconstruction

As part of the £800 million transformation of St Pancras for High Speed 1, Dent London was commissioned to create a faithful new station clock, working with Smith of Derby. The current dial is 18 feet (5.5 m) across and uses metal plate with Welsh-slate “diamond” hour markers, gilded numerals and mouldings finished to match Victorian profiles.[1][9][2] The movement is synchronised electric with GPS-controlled backup and automatic summer/winter time changeover.[2]

The restored station, including the new clock, was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 6 November 2007 and the Eurostar terminal opened to passengers later that month.[10]

Location and public art

The clock occupies its historic position at the south end of the trainshed, overlooking the Grand Terrace, directly above Paul Day's 9-metre bronze The Meeting Place, commissioned by London & Continental Railways and unveiled in November 2007.[6][4] A statue of John Betjeman by Martin Jennings also stands on the upper level, commemorating the poet's role in saving the station.[15]

Cultural reception

The platform clock has long acted as a rendezvous point—revived in popular coverage during the 2007 reopening—while the new clock and the public art beneath it have attracted wide commentary.[16][17]

Notes

Primary and project pages used for technical detail include Dent London's case study[18] and Smith of Derby's project note; dimensions, materials and movement specification are corroborated there. HS1's “A Tale of Three Clocks” supplies 19th-century dimensions and the attribution to John Walker of Cornhill, and cautions that the oft-repeated sale-price story lacks documentary evidence.

References

  1. ^ a b c "St Pancras – Case Study". Dent London. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "St Pancras Station Platform Clock". Smith of Derby. 29 April 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  3. ^ "The Meeting Place Statue and Frieze". St Pancras International (HS1). Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  4. ^ a b "The Meeting Place (St. Pancras)". Paul Day Sculpture. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  5. ^ "Opening of the new Midland terminus in London". Leicester Journal. 9 October 1868. Retrieved 29 July 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ a b c d "A Tale of Three Clocks". St Pancras International (HS1). Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Famous face will look down from Newark barn". Nottingham Guardian. United Kingdom. 31 October 1968. Retrieved 28 December 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ a b McKie, Robin (12 August 2007). "The man who saved time". The Observer. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  9. ^ a b "The St. Pancras International Railway Station Clock". Dent London. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  10. ^ a b "A speech by The Queen at the opening of High Speed 1, St Pancras International". The Royal Household. 6 November 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Queen opens 'great and gleaming' St Pancras". Building. 7 November 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  12. ^ "The largest clock in the county?". Thurgarton History. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  13. ^ Higginbottom, Mike (26 September 2017). "The St Pancras clock". Interesting Times. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Museum of Timekeeping". Museum of Timekeeping. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  15. ^ Bradley, Simon (2011). St Pancras Station. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-84668-460-9.
  16. ^ "Meet me at St Pancras". The Daily Telegraph. 10 November 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2025 – via Telegraph (paywalled).
  17. ^ Jones, Jonathan (16 November 2007). "Public art has gone off the rails". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  18. ^ "St. Pancras International Railway Clock". Dent. Retrieved 26 August 2025.

Further reading

  • Bradley, Simon (2007). St Pancras Station. Wonders of the World. London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-86197-996-4.
  • Bradley, Simon (2011). St Pancras Station (revised ed.). London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-84668-460-9.

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