A BENEFACTOR for a Kent town has been commemorated with an inaugural blue plaque.

Londoner Ann Thwaytes donated £4,000 to Herne Bay in 1836 and a year later the world’s first purpose-built freestanding clock tower was opened in the seaside town.

Now her historic act of generosity has been honoured under the city council’s blue plaque scheme.

The plaque – the first for Herne Bay - is erected on the bow-fronted terrace house at 30 Central Parade and reads: 'Ann Thwaytes, 1789 – 1866, Benefactor of Herne Bay and the Clock Tower, lived here 1835 – 1841.’

Though Mrs Thwaytes technically never lived in the town, but only stayed there for her holidays, there is no argument over her legacy and local historian Harold Gough offered some explanation of how and why the gift came about.

“Mrs Thwaytes, nee Hook, was married to wealthy tea merchant William Thwaytes who was older than her by some 40 years,” he says.

“When he died in 1834 he left her half a million in stocks and shares.

“When Mrs Thwaytes came to Herne Bay in 1836 she came up with the idea of having a clock for the town. She knew architect Edwin Dangerfield , who lived at one time in Prospect Hill, and they talked about it.”

As Herne Bay’s clock tower was the first of its kind in the world, the architect didn’t have a design to work from and it is thought he took inspiration from a fire insurance plaque for London’s Royal Exchange Insurance Company on one of the town’s houses.

On October 3, 1836, Mrs Thwaytes laid the foundation stone to the tower.

Almost exactly a year later to the day, on October 2, 1837 – Mrs Thwaytes’ 48th birthday – she handed the completed clock tower over to the town amid pomp and a procession of carriages.

But Mrs Thwaytes’ love affair with Herne Bay was to turn sour. Building work on the old St John’s Church in Brunswick Square began shortly after the opening of the clock tower but funds ran out and construction came to a temporary halt.

According to Mr Gough, engineer George Burge told Mrs Thwaytes that had the bricks used to build the clock tower instead been used for St John’s Church it would have been finished long before.

“Mrs Thwaytes took a huff and never came back,” says the local historian.

But her 75-ft (23m) legacy will long stand the test of time.