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In July 2007, the Municipal Chambers clock underwent its first major overhaul since 1989, with caretaker Jeff Martin previously doing only minor regular checks and oiling all the bronze bearings fortnightly. He mentions that when he took over maintenance of the clock, it came with a little mythology - one of the weights had fallen down the shaft, and gone through a couple of floors. Needless to say, the man sitting at the desk below was given the rest of the day off!

Jeff put this tale down to an embroidered history but when he discovered several broken floorboards about the size and shape of one of the weights, he was quick to reassess the myth!

The clock is raised

The clock (and its tower) has had a chequered history, being loved and hated, wanted and despised, raised and lowered, since its first mention in the Council Minutes, dated 20 August, 1879.

It was not tendered for, and it appears that the decision to build it had already been made as, that same day, a letter was received from John Hyslop, a Dunedin watchmaker, offering to supply a clock for the new Municipal Chambers clock tower. Five days later he submitted a design drawn by Alexander McArthur to complement architect RA Lawson's clock tower. This design was accepted and the process was underway.

The clock was made by Gillett and Bland Steam Clock Company of Croyden, London. Its timekeeping is governed by a 75-gram Denison double-three-legged gravity escapement, driving a 450-pound pendulum with a two-second swing (instead of the usual one-second swing).

While McArthur has received very little actual recognition (his name does not even appear on the plate affixed to the front of the clock's workings), he went on to design the clock, build, and install it, and also composed its unique chime tune. The clock was in place by the end of 1880 and Mayor HJ Walter released the pendulum to set the clock going at midday on 2 December 1880.

Its very own chime - pleasing to some

Shortly after the clock began its purposeful life, the citizens began to complain. Mr McArthur's five-note chime sequence was denounced as - the discordant janglings, which nightly prevail every quarter hour, making the night hideous".

Mr McArthur had received the City Council's permission to use a composition of his own as the councillors could not see why Dunedin should copy any other city. This meant 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 eventually became part of the background noise of the Octagon, with a few adjustments to placate the locals. After World War I, the bells were silenced on Armistice Day and from 1944, every Sunday until 9am on Monday as churchgoers complained they disturbed services.

It was later decided that concerts in the Concert Chamber and Town Hall should not be interrupted and local residents and hotel guests should be allowed to sleep at least from 10.30pm - 7.30am each night and then finally, they were silenced for the whole weekend.

Tower rebuilt

In the early 1960s, it was discovered (largely due to a cast iron finial falling to the ground below), that the clock tower was falling into disrepair. This led to much heated discussion between City Councillors and the public. The Council wanted to bring the tower down and the public were adamant it should be saved. Both local architects and the Master Builders' Association supported the public in this, by delaying both design and tendering processes.

However, on 14 November 1963, the Evening Star ran the headline 'Council's Committee Stands by Tower Decision' over a report from the Finance Committee explaining the infeasibility of saving the tower at its current height. At the end of January 1964, Messrs McKinley Bros Ltd began work to lower the tower. The clock and associated mechanisms remained in their original position after the tower was shortened, with the bells covered by a new aluminium top.

The new tower received few compliments, some describing its new top as 'the meat safe', and the Council was referred to as 'timid, petty-minded conformists'. It served its purpose for a while until in 1979, George Armstrong, still City Engineer and author of the above-mentioned report, was asked to have sketch plans drawn up for a new Civic Centre.

WF Hesson, the architect who designed Moana Pool, was asked to submit drawings for four linked buildings. His first attempt was received with mixed feelings but, in 1972, he and Donald Anderson put forward another design entitled the Civic Development.

By late 1981, the new Public Library opened its doors and in June 1982, the entire administrative staff moved into their new home, the Civic Centre. In 1984, Mr Hesson suggested a three-stage plan for upgrading and linking the Town Hall, the Concert Chambers and the Municipal Chambers. By the time he retired in 1987 (to be replaced by Robert Tongue) the first two parts were largely completed, leaving only the reconstruction of the Municipal Chambers, including reinstatement of the clock tower.

A long overdue overhaul

In April 1988, while the 'meat safe' was being removed and the replica of the original top half of the tower was built (including the open belfry), clock caretaker Jeff Martin, aided by colleague Steve Brewer, apprentice Warren Gouman, & helper John Corson began bringing the clock down. It had had its last major overhaul by Mr Martin in 1985, so this was an opportunity to refresh all the working parts as well. In particular, the motion work had not been cleaned in almost a century and, needless to say, was covered in grime.

The motion work (the 12 - 1 ratio mechanism that drives the hands) had not been dismantled since the installation of the clock due to the necessity of scaffolding the tower to provide a platform for removing the hands.

The bells were the only pieces of the clock to remain in place during this process with all other parts, including the strike hammer weighing 40kg and the chime drum, both of which had to be manoeuvred down the narrow stairs by up to three men.

The components were acid dipped and then hand polished. Mr Martin comments, "You just go into a trance and do it in your sleep". After polishing, the bronze components were finished with a hard lacquer and the other parts painted.

City landmark finally celebrated

On 16 November 1989, the grand opening ceremony for the Municipal Chambers took place, with bands and a ribbon that extended up to the flagpole cut by Mayor Richard Walls.

The clock is now recognised as an important feature in the Octagon landscape and its history - or the cheerful bits anyway - are celebrated regularly. On 2 December 1999, a party was thrown for its 120th birthday, with guests including two of Mr Hyslop's great-granddaughters, Isobel Knotman and Gwyneth Stewart, and a great, great-granddaughter, Deirdre Prince.

The clock even had its own cake, which is now displayed in the corridor between the Otaru and the Edinburgh Rooms.

More than fifty years ago, JB Hyslop said of Dunedin's chiming glory, "There is no doubt about the best clock my dad erected. It is Dunedin Town Hall's Big Ben, and with its chimes, it is reputed to be the best tower clock south of the line".