Maidenhead's historic Victorian clock tower set for a digital makeover

One of Maidenhead’s most famous landmarks is set for a modern makeover with the introduction of a digital display.

The Jubilee Clock Tower, located opposite the railway station, has proudly stood in the town centre for more than 125 years since it was built to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

But with state-of-the-art office blocks and towering redevelopment projects shooting up nearby, town planners have decided the 14m-high building is a little too ‘quaint’ for modernising Maidenhead.

Under plans set to go out for consultation next week, the tower’s analogue clock face – complete with a diamond pattern to commemorate the jubilee – will be entirely replaced by a large black screen with a 24-hour illuminated digital display.

This will be the first stage of plans to turn the building into a ‘smart’ clock tower, which will eventually act as a 5G and public Wi-Fi hub and provide news and weather updates to passing commuters through a smart speaker.

Digital advertising can also be displayed on one of the clock faces, offering a much-needed revenue boost to the council.

But the primary purpose of the tower will be the same as it always has been – to display the time.

The digital display will better serve busy Maidenhead residents and workers, according to planning consultant Apollo Rifs.

Mr Rifs said: “This is a go-go digital age where people want instant access to information.

“If you’re heading to your train and in a rush, you don’t want to waste time figuring out where the big hand and the little hand are and what that means – that’s the old way of doing things.

“This way, you know the time straight away without any fuss. You can see it from 100 metres away, and you can see it clearly at night, too.

“Frankly, it’s a wonder this wasn’t done sooner.”

Subject to feedback from the consultation, a planning application is expected to be submitted in the summer.