Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower

[1] The removal of the Assembly Rooms and the hay market left a wide area which pedestrians struggled to cross due to the busy traffic there, and with rumours of an illuminated clock planned for the junction of London Road and Belvoir Street, local businesses began a petition to erect "a clock with a cluster of lamps and a fine colossal statue of that unparalleled benefactor Sir Thomas White" in the area.

[1] An organisation was formed in 1867 to raise funds for the project, led by John Burton, who ran a photography business from a shop adjacent to the site of the tower.

Restoration of the tower was undertaken (and substantially funded) in 1992 by architects and engineers Pick Everard to mark the Leicester-based company's 125th anniversary.

On Monday 5 November 2007 both the Leicester Mercury and The Sun printed articles on a hoax petition, set up by local man Luke Anthony Williams.

Over 3000 people joined a Facebook group to save the Clock Tower, even though plans to demolish the monument were fictitious: the only evidence that he could provide was a Wikipedia edit made by himself.