The Elizabeth line’s new heritage-inspired clock now arriving at Chadwell Heath

Commuters arriving at Chadwell Heath station this morning will have seen something very new and very large on the platform — a heritage-inspired clock.

This roundel-themed clock is the culmination of several years of work by the Chadwell Heath South Residents’ Association (CHSRA) to instal some form of public art in the station to celebrate the arrival of the Elizabeth line.

It all started back in 2018 when the association’s Chair, Rama Muraleetharan, proposed the idea of a station clock as a focal point. Reminded of his youthful trips along the Central line, he took inspiration from the heritage roundel clocks at several of those stations.

A meeting with TfL to present their plans was met with enthusiastic support and assistance to get the project started. Then, in July 2019, using developer levies, Redbridge Council agreed to fund the cost of the new clock being made in Switzerland and its installation at Chadwell Heath.

However, it has taken until 2024 to get the clock installed. The delay was largely due to the pandemic and holding back any extra station work during the early days of the Elizabeth line. Then there were some other niggles to work out before a clock can be installed on a live railway platform.

It also turns out that clocks are best installed on dry days to avoid moisture being trapped inside the dial when it is installed. So after waiting for the right weather, this was the perfect week for a team from Grayson Clocks and Elm Site Services to arrive at the station with their scaffolding and start the installation work.

The 80cm wide clock is a proper Swiss clock made by Mobatime, the same firm that makes the world-famous Swiss Railway Clocks. It’s not an actual “Swiss railway clock” as it lacks the seconds hand and the Swiss Railway registered design, and also it has been custom-made for the Elizabeth line station, with London features in the clockface.

Decoratively, the most obvious is that the numbers have been replaced with roundels, echoing the design of the classic Central line clocks, and the hour’s hand also has an Elizabeth line roundel on it.

You may also notice a design suggestion from TfL — and that’s the crest at the 9 O’Clock mark — which is the logo for the residents association that originally came up with the idea for the clock. Their logo includes emblems representing local landmarks: Wangeyhall Farm, St. Chad’s Well, The Three Windmills, Embassy Cinema, The White Horse Pub, and the whalebones discovered in 1658*.

The addition of the logo elevates the project somewhat from a nice large clock into an actual artwork representing the local heritage.

Before installation, a new electricity supply had to be installed, and something else you’ve probably never expected — a GPS antenna. The clock uses the timing signal from GPS satellites to ensure it shows the correct time.

Installing a nearly 50kg clock needs a bit more than a ladder and some screws, and it took the team about 2 hours to get the whole lot fitted, wired and tested. During installation, most people wandered past, glancing at the “construction team” with modest interest, but several knew about the plans for a new clock and were evidently excited to see it arrive at last.

Once the power was switched on, the hands automatically spun around to the correct time thanks to the GPS antenna, which, if you wanted to see it, is the anonymous-looking block on the corner of the canopy near the lift.

Now, glowing in the canopy, and thanks also to its size, it’s an impressive and eye-catching piece of horological art for the Elizabeth line. It’s taken a long time to get to this point, longer than anyone wanted, but Chadwell Heath now joins its four cousins at Bethnal Green, Gants Hill, Redbridge and Wanstead in continuing the tradition of the roundel clock.

Art aside, the clock has been placed on the London bound platform, right next to the seating area, recreating that sense of place in railway stations where people have so often said they would meet by the station clock.

And now Chadwell Heath commuters can as well.

Installation photos

*The association’s logo icon meanings in full:

• Volkskrone – A People’s Crown. Used across Europe to signify communities of residents.
• Wangeyhall Farm – Home of Lance Corporal John William Sayer VC, a revered WW1 hero.
• St. Chad’s Well – Possibly built in the 18th Century, water from the sacred spring was originally thought to have medicinal properties.
• The Three Windmills – “Long Sally, Little Jenny & Miss Bentley” once formed a triangle close to the eastern entrance of St. Chad’s Park.
• Embassy Cinema – Symbolising Chadwell Heath’s art deco cinema and historic ties with the film industry (from manufacturers for film reels and parts for cinema projectors, to well-known actors on the silver screen)
• The White Horse Inn – More than 400 years old, coaching inn. Famous for its Italianate gardens, sundial, stables, livestock and terrace.
• Whalebone – Daniel Defoe claimed in the early 18th century that the jaw bones of a whale had been discovered by Dagenham Dock workers, washed up on 3rd September 1658, after a great storm raged on the Thames (the night that Oliver Cromwell died). The bones were used to create Chadwell Heath’s famous Whalebone Arch.