Following the construction of Big Ben in 1858, the Council Chamber of Lichfield mooted the idea of following suit and building their own clock tower in the city.

[1] A number of locations were suggested for the clock tower including the roof of the Guildhall and in the Market Square where it would incorporate the statue of Samuel Johnson into its structure.

There were numerous problems regarding the accuracy of the clock during its early years until the whole mechanism was overhauled by Joyce of Whitchurch in 1898.

[1] In 1920 the 11-acre Friary estate was sold to Sir Richard Ashmole Cooper (MP for Walsall), who gave it to the city for the purpose of developing the area and laying out a new road.

The clock tower was taken down and re-erected at its current site south of Festival Gardens, some 400m west of its original location.