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Local clockmaker has town clock bells ringing again

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Commissioned by Rotorua Lakes Council, a local clockmaker is restoring the century-old Seddon Memorial Town Clock — bringing its bells back to life and reconnecting residents and visitors with a piece of the city’s heritage.

Blair Shallard is restoring the chimes for the Seddon Memorial Town Clock — a Rotorua landmark that has been keeping time for more than a century.

In another life, Blair Shallard might have been arguing the merits of a criminal case in a packed courtroom.

Instead, he is climbing the narrow tower of the iSite building, tools and hand-crafted parts in hand, to bring a piece of the city’s history back to life.

The local watchmaker and clockmaker is restoring the chimes for the Seddon Memorial Town Clock — a Rotorua landmark that has been keeping time for more than a century.

The clock has been on the blink since late last year, gradually becoming more inaccurate before being stopped altogether for assessment and repair.

After weeks of intricate work stripping, cleaning and rebuilding some components, the bells are striking again on the hour.

While the hourly chime has returned, further work to reinstate the more complex quarter-hour Westminster chimes may have to wait for with wider upgrade work on the tower to allow greater access.

Shallard, who owns Time Central in Rotorua, has been carefully dismantling, repairing and rebuilding parts of the historic clock — a maze of complex gears, pulleys and pendulums — as he works towards that goal.

He says he is awestruck by the craftsmanship displayed by those who built the original clock. All the parts, including the massive cast-iron frame were made by specialist tower clockmakers in England using the manual tools available at the time.

This means parts are not easily replaced.

“You either repair what’s there or make something new.”

For Shallard, who has also completed an overhaul of the historic clock in the roof of the Old Government Building in Wellington and also recently repaired the Carterton Town Clock. the project continues a career that began after a dramatic career turn early on.

He had been studying law at Auckland University when he took a part-time job with a watchmaker through Student Job Search and decided this was much more satisfying than law.

In 2017, he and his wife relocated to Rotorua.

The move gave him the space to return to his passion for larger clocks – especially public ones that have character and history.

The Seddon Memorial Clock certainly does.

Installed in 1914 in the former Rotorua Post Office building, now the iSite, the clock was built in England by J B Joyce & Co and shipped to New Zealand at a cost of £300,

It features five solid brass bells weighing about 2.5 tonnes in total, which produce the familiar Westminster chimes.

Named in honour of Premier Richard Seddon, who died in 1906, the clock has been a central feature of Rotorua’s CBD for generations.

Samantha Martin, Rotorua Lakes Council Manager of Facilities Services, says restoring the clock is about preserving an important piece of the city’s heritage and keeping it part of everyday life in Rotorua.

“We’re pleased to have commissioned this restoration work so the clock can continue to mark time in the heart of the city for residents and visitors alike,”

It is not the first time the clock has been brought back from silence. In 2014, it was restored by specialists after 30 years out of action.

Shallard also got it ticking again in 2021 after another repair was needed. He built a new gravity escapement, which he describes as the “heart of the clock” controlling the ticking and timekeeping.

For Shallard, being entrusted with its latest revival is both a responsibility and a privilege.

“The clock connects people to the past —to our city’s history.”

Once the quarter chimes are fully restored, Rotorua residents can expect the clock to once again mark time as it has for more than 100 years.

This article was updated on 6/7/2026 to correct a typo in the name of Mr Shallard's business, Time Central.

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