Refit for 'Castle of Spite' clock
The new owners of Carbisdale Castle have instructed a specialist conservation firm to undertake extensive restoration works to the Grade B listed clock tower that forms the centre piece of the iconic Castle overlooking the Kyle of Sutherland.
The works have been commissioned for an undisclosed sum but are expected to cost tens of thousands of pounds and will start this month and continue until March. The restoration will see preservation of the existing and original J W Benson clock movement and the J Smiths hour chiming musical mechanism.
In addition to the preservation works, new electromagnetic hammers will be installed alongside an electronic winding system to prevent further damage to the original fittings. The final works to be completed will be the off-site restoration of the three clock faces themselves.
Four new jobs, all to local employees, have already been created since the purchase of the castle, which will be returned to its original use as a private residence, in addition to numerous local specialist contractors who have been on site conducting emergency repairs to the property prior to full restoration, due to start in 2017.
Smith of Derby will be completing the works having previously worked on iconic buildings like St Paul’s Cathedral and Woolwich Arsenal. The firm, which can trace its roots back 150 years, undertakes numerous maintenance projects in the Highlands but this is the first time it will have worked on Carbisdale Castle since the original installation nearly 100 years ago.
The Clock Tower dates back to 1905 when plans for Carbisdale Castle were first put forward by the Duchess of Sutherland, erected as part of a bitter family dispute. The Clock Tower is famously missing one face which would have looked towards the Duchess of Sutherland’s estranged son-in-law’s own Castle, the seat of the Sutherland family, as she didn’t want to give him ‘the time of day’.
FCFM Group Limited acquired the 40,000sqft Grade B listed property in October.
