Echoes from the Clock Tower at Wandlebury
If you’ve visited Wandlebury Country Park before, you will almost certainly have seen it.
The cupola that rises above the stable block is one of Wandlebury’s most recognisable features. It sits quietly in the landscape, part landmark, part reference point, familiar enough that many people stop noticing it.
Recently, CPPF’s Estates Manager, Allan Scott-Davies, spent time inside the clock tower. What he found was not a broken relic, but a structure that still holds its story remarkably well.
The clock mechanism itself remains in good condition. The bell hammer sits safely beneath the bell above, protected and intact. Though the clock no longer marks the hours, it has not been lost to neglect.
What proved most striking, however, were the traces left behind by people.
Carved into the wooden posts and walls are names and initials, some dating back more than two centuries. Among them are inscriptions from the eve of the First and Second World Wars, quiet, personal marks that immediately raise questions. Who were these people? What brought them here? And did those individuals return after serving their country?
Standing inside the tower, it becomes clear that the cupola is more than an architectural feature. It is a place where individual lives briefly intersected with a much longer story, one that continues to unfold.
The stable block and its cupola form part of Wandlebury’s layered history, shaped by different uses over time, from estate life to public parkland. The clock once played a practical role, structuring daily rhythms. Today, even in silence, it still anchors the site visually and historically.
Over the coming months, the Estates team will begin careful work to stabilise and refresh the structure, starting with repairs and repainting where needed. This is about looking after what already exists, ensuring the cupola remains sound, legible, and part of the park’s future as well as its past.
Whether the clock itself ever returns to working order remains a question for another day. For now, the focus is on conservation rather than revival. The bell may stay silent, preserving the peace of the park, but the tower’s presence continues to speak.
For visitors, the next time you’re at Wandlebury, it’s worth pausing near the stable block and looking up. The cupola has watched generations come and go. Its stories aren’t announced loudly, they reward attention.
This is what caring for historic places often looks like: quiet work, long horizons, and a commitment to passing things on in good order.
The clock may no longer count the hours. But its echoes are still very much part of Wandlebury.
