Restoration work on our town’s beloved Clock Tower will be officially unveiled in a few weeks’ time.

The tower, in Milton Road, has undergone massive restoration thanks to the National Lottery through a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant of £172,300, with the remaining funding provided by Gravesham council.

Although the new-look clock is visible for all to see, the end of the work will be officially marked on Friday, March 17.

There will be an exhibition in Gravesend Methodist Church from 5.30pm that will celebrate all of the community projects, with a selection of work from an art competition, old photos of the local area, postcards from the ‘Shadows through Time’ project and a collection of images and memories of the local area.

A number of local businesses in the Milton Road and Harmer Street area will be offering special promotions on the evening.

Cabinet Member for Heritage, Cllr Jordan Meade, said: “The clock tower looks absolutely magnificent and the work that has been completed on it has really made a difference. Thanks to National Lottery players, it has now been restored to the clock tower that we remember in old photos and through people’s shared memories.”

More than 900 linear metres of re-pointing work has been completed and a large proportion of the sandstone banding around the tower has been replaced. Small details and sections of Portland Stone have also been replaced including one large panel on the east side of the tower.

The weathervane at the top of the tower has been refurbished and re-gilded with gold leaf.

The large clock faces all have new glass which provides a uniform finish and the chapter ring and hands have also been refurbished. A new timekeeping mechanism has also been installed to provide better accuracy and auto-adjustment when the clocks go back and forward each year. Some internal repair work has also been necessary.

New, energy efficient LED lighting will also be fitted to provide better illumination of the architectural detail of the tower and clock faces and an information board will be installed on the clock tower traffic island, giving a brief history of the tower and events surrounding it.

Cllr Meade added: “The project has taken a little longer than originally expected because of a change to the sandstone supplier and the recent cold weather has also hampered progress as mortar does not set when the temperature is below three degrees but it’s definitely been worth the wait.

“The restoration works should be sufficient to ensure the clock tower can be appreciated for a generation before any further major work becomes necessary.”

The tower will be officially unveiled by The Mayor of Gravesham, Cllr Greta Goatley, with the new lighting scheme turned on at approximately 7pm.