Time ball restored to the Nelson Monument

The Edinburgh time ball was successfully lifted back into place on top of the Nelson Monument, on 30 June following a major restoration project.

The work is part of the Twelve Monuments Restoration Project, a joint initiative of the City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh World Heritage, which will see some of the city’s most important statues and monuments restored for future generations to enjoy.

The time ball traditionally drops at exactly one o’clock, but after 150 years of use a comprehensive restoration was required. The repair has been possible thanks to a grant of £50,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, along with donations from many other charitable trusts and businesses.

The time ball dates to 1852 and was intended to enable ship’s captains to set their chronometers accurately, by observing the dropping of the ball at one o’clock Greenwich Mean Time each day. Nine years later the one o’clock gun at Edinburgh Castle was added, to give an audible signal.

The time ball itself is a timber structure sheathed in zinc, which rises and falls around a central post, hand-operated by an employee of Ritchie & Son Clockmakers.

The ball has had new timber and zinc parts, but the operating mechanism has also been restored. A new gear wheel has been cast and installed to replace the original. All the repairs have been completed using traditional methods and removing the minimum necessary amount of damaged material

The Twelve Monuments Restoration Project is supported by:Heritage Lottery Fund, J.Paul Getty Foundation, the Wolfson Foundation, the Marquess of Bute, Babcock Marine, the Pilgrim Trust, The Binks Trust and others.