Otley Jubilee Clock: The town clock which honours two Queens, fallen soldiers and Belgian refugees

Otley had a market charter from at least the early 13th century, and around 1800 it acquired a market place with a market cross and, next to it, a traditional buttercross - a covered area in which farm produce was sold.

It was on the site of the cross that the jubilee clock was erected in 1888 at a cost of £150.

A Grade II listed structure since 1974, the English Heritage listing describes it as being stone-built with an ornamental ironwork crown, clocks on four faces and a stone base with a door and drinking trough.

An inscription on the tower reads: “The inhabitants of the town were exercising their minds to find some suitable and lasting method of marking the Queen’s Jubilee”.

Among the other plaques, one remembers a community of refugees from Belgium who lived in the town during World War I and who used the tower to thank the townspeople for their hospitality.

One was placed there in memory of two local men killed in First Boer War of 1899-1902, and another celebrates the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2023.

The tower, a long-time rendezvous point in the town, overlooks the thrice-weekly market and monthly farmers’ market and is in the care of Otley Town Council.

Last year an inspection revealed that two parts of the clock behind the faces were defective, leading to the clock stopping.

Since then replacements have been specially manufactured and the council has announced a programme of maintenance, including treatment to protect and preserve the clock’s metalwork and stone joints.