Albert Memorial Clock

About this place

Belfast has a leaning tower too, and this is it. The Albert Memorial Clock, some 34 metres of sandstone at the river end of High Street, sits roughly 1.25 metres off vertical because the Victorians completed it in 1869 on timber piles driven into soft reclaimed ground over the River Farset, a stream that still runs buried beneath the street. Locals like to say the clock has 'the time and the inclination'. The lean was a growing worry until a full restoration, finished in 2002, strengthened the timber foundations, replaced decayed carvings and cleaned the stonework. It commemorates Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort, whose statue in Garter robes, carved by Samuel Ferris Lynn, stands in a niche on the western face, surrounded by a mix of French and Italian Gothic carving; at the base, flying buttresses carry heraldic lions amid foliage and tracery. The architect was W. J. Barre, who won the 1865 competition and died in 1867, before his tower was finished. Linger for a moment, because the carving is far finer up close than the distant view suggests. Be clear about what this is: you cannot go inside or climb it, and there is no museum or visitor centre attached. It is a handsome ten-minute photo stop in a small open square, free at any hour. Do not build an outing around it; let it fall naturally on the walk linking the city centre, the Cathedral Quarter and the Lagan waterfront, where the Big Fish sculpture and the Custom House are a few minutes away on foot. The square is flat and pushchair-friendly. Lanyon Place train station is about ten minutes' walk, and the Victoria Square shopping centre with its restaurants is only a few minutes away. Long summer evenings show it best; in Belfast's short winter days the floodlit tower has a different charm, provided you can bear the cold wind off the river.