Ebbw Vale town clock
This clock was installed in 2009. It stands near where a level crossing once separated Market Street and Bethcar Street, at the southern end of the town’s high-level railway station.
The clock was ordered in 2002 as part of the town’s regeneration following closure of the steelworks in 2001. The clock was designed by Marianne Forrest. Its stainless steel is a nod to the town’s long heritage of iron and steel production. The clockfaces resemble the wheels of colliery winding gear, a reminder that in the 19th century there were coal levels or coal shafts all around – and within – the town.
The clock’s position is historically appropriate because time didn’t need to be standardised until Britain’s rail network developed in the 19th century. Previously each area set its clocks according to sunrise and sunset, but train timetables needed consistency across the country. The Royal Observatory in London provided the solution in 1852: technology which transmitted an accurate time signal through the telegraph network.
Ebbw Vale’s high-level station was opened in 1867 by the London & North Western Railway, which had built a line from Beaufort to a new station. There was already a low-level Great Western Railway station – the road named Station Approach is a relic of it.
The LNWR station and goods yard were in the wedge of land between Market Street and James Street (site of today’s multi-storey car park and adjoining shops). The station closed in 1951 but the tracks remained in use for goods.
The railway continued over the level crossing to the steelworks and Victoria Colliery. The old photo (coming soon) shows a bus waiting in Bethcar Street as a train approaches the old station. The wagons are probably empty ones returning to Trefil for loading with limestone for the steelworks.
Postcode: NP23 8HL View Location Map