Water Clock Progress Report

The Water Clock in close-up.

Six o'clock this evening saw us standing where the water normally is, at the base of Emett's clock in the Victoria Centre. 

Having now had the opportunity to inspect the clock at close quarters it looks to be a relatively simple process to dismantle it. But then Emett originally built it in his forge at Streat in Surrey and would have been mindful of avoiding problems in assembling, and therefore disassembling it. 

The base of the structure.

The only big unknown at this stage is the method of fixing at the base of the tubular steel structure. We can guess, but we will not know until the slabs that overlay the fixings are lifted to reveal them. An exploratory 'dig' will take place in the coming two weeks to find out the truth. At that stage the condition of the bases of the feet should also become apparent and whether any strengthening of the structure will be needed as part of the restoration.

The structure appears to come apart in sections but the first thing to be removed will be the delicate outer petals of the copper sunflower. This will avoid any further damage to them whilst taking down the upper sections.  After removing the petals and bagging and labeling we shall remove the clock faces. This should be straightforward so long as we have the right size spanners. We will have a selection of imperial sized spanners, just in case.                  

After the clock the next element will be the three booms that rotate around the tower section and support the birds and gondolas. These are a simple bolt connection. The upper parts of the tower will come down in two sections, mindful of the drive shafts for the clock and the booms that thread their way up through the structure.The most difficult part will be to remove the body of the sunflower. But then it will be plain sailing. The cobweb water wheel will come off in one piece as will the bouquet leaving the control box to be un-threaded from within the main structure. 

Corroded butterfly with missing jewels.

The main tubular steel frame has been damaged by forty years of exposure to chlorinated water but it is the 'bright' parts that have suffered the most now sporting an incrustation of corrosion salts. The copper and brass has lost its sparkle a long time ago but the trickiest part to replace may be the 'jewels' in the wings of the butterflies. Many of these have dropped out over the years so we will need to source replacements and make sure that they have a secure fixing.

The water wheel bearing.

A modification that has been made at some time is the removal of the drive shaft that turns the water wheel. When Emett built the clock the 'cobweb' water wheel had a chain drive from a gear wheel on a shaft driven by a motor in the central control box. The hole is clearly visible where the shaft used to project but that is all that is left. The wheel is now turned by the power of the water. Not ideal as this has thrown more water around than designed for adding to the corrosion.

Plastic cups.

To offer some degree of protection to the flowers around the edge of the water wheel and to catch the water  a series of plastic cups have been fixed into each flower. Those are coming out.

The base of the bouquet.

Nowhere is the poor condition of the metalwork more apparent than on the bouquet in the centre. This was originally intended to spot water and the copper was supposed to sparkle. Neither of these things currently happen.

When we start to dismantle in mid February we will film the process with time lapse cameras and, if everything goes to plan, will post the results here and on the Rowland Emett Society website. There is a lot of work to do before the water clock goes back on public display. We have till May!