Rotorua’s much-loved Seddon Memorial Town Clock began ticking again after a $15,000 restoration, more than 100 years after it first started watching over the city centre. Rotorua Lakes Council hired local clockmaker Blair Shallard to carry out the specialist repairs, after the clock’s ageing mechanism became increasingly inaccurate and eventually stopped working late last year.
The clock, built in England by J B Joyce & Co, featured five solid brass bells weighing about 2.5 tonnes in total. Council infrastructure and assets manager Stavros Michael explained that Rotorua’s sulphur and damp conditions had caused wear and corrosion inside the mechanism over the years, and said the community had shown huge interest whenever the clock stopped working.
While the hourly chimes had now returned, the clock’s famous Westminster quarter-hour chimes remained silent, as fixing them required restoring several complex mechanical parts. Longtime Rotorua councillor Trevor Maxwell said he felt thrilled the clock was working again, describing it as a nostalgic reminder of his childhood, when he used to compare it to London’s famous Big Ben.
The council said it had not yet confirmed a cost or timeline for restoring the chimes, as the work depended on funding and the availability of specialist scaffolding.
SMART Prep | Quick Question 
