Wednesday September 17th 2025
Portobello Baptist Church
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Joe Sullivan
A public clock out of service for over 20 years could finally be restored under plans set to be considered by Edinburgh councillors.
The council-owned clock on Portobello Baptist Church was pulled down in 2003 for repairs – but has stayed down since then for a variety of reasons.
Among them is a historic dispute over who actually owns the clock – the council or the church – though archival research concluded in 2019 found it was the council’s property.
Now, councillors are being recommended by officers to approve an approximately £150,000 spend to put the clock back up.
According to a report to go before the Finance and Resources Committee on Thursday, some £13,250 in stoneworks on the church itself will be needed to remount the clock.
The church has historically refused to fund this, expressing that it would only be necessary to replace the clock.
In the report, officers detail that at least one side of Portobello High Street would have to be closed for up to four days to reinstate the clock due to its ‘weight and size’.
Officers add that the effort to restore it comes after ‘growing interest from the Portobello community’ to have it put back in place.
According to Portobello Community Council, the clock was presented as a gift to the then Portobello Burgh Council in 1868 by former town Baillie James Falshaw.
They say that the only stipulation he added was that the clock should never be moved from the position where it was placed – that being the building that is now the Baptist Church.
When Portobello was absorbed into Edinburgh in 1896, the city took over the now-abolished council’s legal responsibilities – including the ownership of the clock.
The council recently put out a tender worth up to £1.2 million to cover the cost of maintaining analogue clocks owned by the council across the Capital.
Among the council’s timepieces are 27 public clocks and 25 clocks inside the City Chambers on High Street – though only 24 of the public ones are currently in operation.
When the tender was announced, the council said it was unlikely that it would cover the cost of rehabilitating the Portobello clock.
Besides the Portobello High Street clock, clocks at Tollcross and Fountainbridge are currently in storage due to needing repairs.
The Tollcross clock was removed in 2022 over health and safety concerns, as cracks had been discovered at the base of the clock.
The next meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee will be held on Thursday, September 18, which you can view here.
Tweet Share on Facebook
