Rowntree Clock Tower

Image: © Gerald England Taken: 21 Jun 2013

The clock tower on the roundabout at Albert Square is known as the Rowntree Clock Tower. Margaret Rowntree was the first female Mayor of Fleetwood. This clock tower, with its unique weathervane, commemorates her as a mayor, teacher and poet. This clock is mounted at the top of a concrete tower, with a cupola type covering topped by a weather vane consisting of a gold silhouette of a sailing vessel like many that travelled in and out of this fishing port over the years. The clock face is round, solid white with twelve black Roman numerals and marks for the minutes. Each of the four sides of the tower have an identical clock face. There is no clear date for the erection of the clock tower*, but presumably after her death in 1983. At the base of the clock tower is a dedication plaque reading: This clock was bequeathed to the Town by Margaret Elizabeth Rowntree, M.B.E. (Widow of Lawrence Tather Rowntree) first woman Mayor and Alderman of the Borough of Fleetwood. Born 3rd February 1899. Died 13th February 1983. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMJTKY_Rowntree_Clock_Tower_Weathervane_Fleetwood_UK * Update 2019: I have recently heard from Mike Smith who writes: "I knew Mrs Rowntree for the last 12 years of her life, so I know about her clock. She left bequests to many people in her will (I have a copy somewhere), plus money to set up the Margaret Rowntree Room in what was then the library if I remember correctly. The residue of her estate was to be used to erect a clock in a public place. I'm sure that she thought there would be only a few hundred pounds left over, so it would have been an ordinary wall clock somewhere; however, in the early 1980s house prices shot up and so possibly the size of her estate was much more than it was when she wrote her will. I think the residue for the clock might have exceeded all her other bequests put together. I understand all the residue went to the then Fleetwood Borough Council towards the clock and, as you can see in your photo, they were able to erect a fairly substantial edifice. I think the clock was up and running 2 or 3 years after Mrs Rowntree died."

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