Tower work completed in time for clocks going back

The face, hands and numerals of the clock have been painted as part of the work

Restoration work has been completed to an 18th century clock tower after seven weeks.

The face, hands and numerals of the clock, which is situated at the entrance of Blenheim Palace's Great Courtyard, have been painted as part of the work, along with the decorative golden sphere on the top of the tower.

The clock tower was installed at the palace in 1710 and was made by renowned clockmaker Langley Bradley, who also made the original clock for St Paul's Cathedral a couple of years before.

Chris Monaghan, clerk of works in the Blenheim Palace Built Heritage team, said the clock tower was now "looking wonderful".

He added it is now "back to working order with its beautiful Capri Blue clock faces, 23.5 carat gold numerals and surround, and a golden sphere that will shine for many years to come".

"It was a fantastic project to be part of, working with some amazing people to make it all come together in the end," he went on to say.

The Built Heritage and Palace Collections teams also worked with historic clock restoration specialists, The Cumbria Clock Company, Apex Scaffolding of Northampton, and John Naysmith of The Oxford Iron Company.

Mr Monaghan added they managed to complete the work despite recent adverse weather conditions.

The archway into the Great Court of Blenheim Palace displays the clock tower

He said: "We started with quite high winds that were causing too much draft whilst stripping the old paint and gold from the clock faces, and then we also had some extremely warm days where it would start to dry base layers too quickly for the gilding or painting to take place."

The clock tower at the palace features many design elements that were also in the St Paul's clock.

This includes the corner posts and fleur-de-lys design motifs, which is the symbol of France.

When British Summer Time ended in 2016, timekeeper Julian Newman changed up to 30 antique clocks, including the 18th Century East Courtyard Clock Tower, which is twice as old as Big Ben.

Mr Newman, who has been keeping time at the palace for 12 years, described the process as "long" but "rewarding".

"I find it best to do this very early in the morning before the staff arrive as you can easily get tied up with other events and the last thing you want to do is lose track of the time," he said at the time.