Bethlem Museum of the Mind

We were pleased to unveil the restored clock on the Bethlem Museum of the Mind this week. The unveiling was marked by the Mayor of Bromley, Jonathan Andrews, who spoke at the event alongside the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and young people involved in the project.

The clock had not been working but is now fully restored, re-gilded and set back in motion.

The Bethlem clock has been an architectural centrepiece of the Art Deco hospital building for almost a century. Its turret reflects a tradition stretching back to the earlier Bethlem Hospital buildings, where prominent clocks symbolised civic presence and order. The restoration included the faces, hands and the orb finial at the top of the turret being re-gilded. The work was carried out by Cumbria Clock Company, specialists who have recently completed major conservation work on Big Ben.

Alongside the physical restoration, young people took part through Proud Places, visiting the site to learn about the museum’s history and creating their own clock faces inspired by the collections.

Dr Nicola Stacey said the restored clock would once again play a meaningful role in the local environment: “We are so pleased to have been able to restore the clock at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind. Public clocks are uplifting markers in the places we share. Here, it speaks to safety, routine and continuity, and we hope its return will be a source of pride for the local community.”

Mayor of Bromley, Cllr Jonathan Andrews, said: “It's really important, I believe, to protect and preserve our heritage and to remember those parts of our history which have come together to make us as a local area and indeed as a wider nation, part of who we are.”

Director of the Bethlem Museum, Colin Gale, added “Sometimes time is experienced as a frustration and other times it's experienced as an opportunity--and as hope as well, for recovery… Thank you so much to the Heritage of London Trust for making the clock gleam and run again.”