In 1934, the Hastings Borough Council ran a national competition inviting designs for a clock tower to enhance the town's aesthetic beauty and restore a familiar sound, which people missed after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, of the old town clock striking the Westminster Quarter chimes every quarter hour.

Davies & Phillips had extensive correspondence with William Gummer, at that time president of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, about the dangers of demeaning competitions with inadequate prize money.

[3] The destroyed post office had been opened in October 1911 and was a neo-classical design in red brick, with a turret clock and chimes donated by local solicitor E. H. Williams.

[5] The front door is capped with the coat of arms for the Borough of Hastings, surmounted with a semi-circular verandah.

There are three intermediate steps to the main part of the tower with three tiers of patterned infill panels and above them are louvres and the faces of the clock.

As the most prominent landmark of Hastings, the clock tower has become iconic as a symbol for the city, being recreated and represented in ephemera, merchandise, and commemorative memorabilia.

In recognition of its historical importance, the Hastings Town Clock has a Category 1 listing with Heritage New Zealand.