Municipal Chambers clock hushed

You may have noticed the Town Hall Clock has been silent for the last few days. It is undergoing repairs to the electric motor that winds the weights for the chimes and strike, which burnt out earlier in the week.

The repairs, which are very specialised, are expected to take around two weeks and are being done by a local electrical contractor.

The chime sequence was written by the clocktower's designer Alexander McArthur as Dunedin's councillors did not see why Dunedin should copy any other city. The five note sequence was loathed by most of the city's residents to begin with but eventually became part of the background of the Octagon. The original composition meant that the traditional chime mechanism had to be restructured, with the chime drum having forty cams and revolving twice in an hour instead of the usual twenty cams and one revolution per hour.

The chimes are silenced from 10.30pm - 7.30am to allow inner city residents an undisturbed sleep and also on the weekends and Armistice Day.

You can read more about the Municipal Chambers Clock and its tower in the History section.

Contact details

Contact John Varney on 477 4000.

Last reviewed: 20 Mar 2009 2:11pm