Restoration of a Hexthorpe Landmark
When King George VI became King in 1937, many local street parties took place within Doncaster.
In Hexthorpe these were funded by local residents who found themselves with an excess amount.
Alderman Morris (chairman of the Parks Department) suggested a community commemorative Coronation clock.
The remaining amount was then raised by public subscription.
This Clock tower was in fact Doncaster’s only personal memorial of the coronation.
The Hexthorpe Clock Tower stands 18 feet (5.4m) high built in an Art Deco style. There was a clock at its top section, and it was surmounted by a globular electric light.
There was a bronze plaque on the base of the clock with the inscription “Erected by public subscription in commemoration of the Coronation of their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth 19th May 1937”.
It was erected at the junction of Urban Road and Shadyside in Hexthorpe.
Sadly, sometime in the next few years, the plaque was stolen, the tower gradually suffered damage from vandals and it fell into some disrepair.
The Doncaster Civic Trust looked at the tower whilst assessing it for local listing last year, and working closely with DMBC initiated restoration work on the clock tower.
It now has 2 new glass faces and is working accurately.
A new plaque has been securely bolted to the steel door at the bottom of the tower.
The Hexthorpe Coronation Clock is once more standing proudly opposite St. Jude’s Church, and is now admired and appreciated by the residents of Hexthorpe who raised the funds for its original inauguration.