A historic clock tower that was threatened with demolition has been saved.

Watford Borough Council has turned down a proposal to knock down the Sun Clock Tower in Ascot Road in the west of the town.

More than 200 objections were made to the proposal as residents fought to save the "landmark" which is an example of Watford's rich printing history.

The decision to refuse the plans was confirmed in a report published by a council officer in the planning portal today.

The officer said the clock tower, built in the 1930s, had "historic significance for the local area".

Watford Observer:

In coming to their decision to turn down the application, the officer wrote: "The proposed development would result in the total loss of a locally significant non-designated heritage asset.

"The building represents an important local landmark building with architectural interest and which retains historic significance for the local area as the sole surviving remnant of the former printing works which is an important part of Watford’s local history."

They added the application "did not include any supporting justification for the proposed demolition....regarding a new use which would be of clear public benefit".

The officer did recognise the refusal of planning permission will have a "significant adverse impact" upon the rights of the applicants to develop their land.

The clock tower closed down as a working site in the 1980s and has fallen into disrepair since, although some restoration has been carried out on the roof.

The tower and extension is all that remains visible today of a once great printing company called Sun Engraving and Sun Printers.

The firm owes its existence, and Watford owes its position as a printing town, to a pioneer named George Jones’ decision to locate a large print works in Whippendell Road in 1906. 

Watford Observer:

Later becoming the Sun Engraving Company, the printworks employed more than 1,000 people and one point in the 1930s was said to produce 70 per cent of the country’s weekly periodicals.

The firm’s expansion in the early 1930s increased the need for more water to generate the steam required by its giant photogravure presses. Water supply was unreliable, especially after low rainfall so the firm obtained a licence in 1934 to extract up to 16,000 gallons per hour from an underground source fed by the River Gade.

A site was acquired on the far side of Ascot Road for the construction of the tower and extension pumping house and the clock tower, possibly the company’s smallest building, was built to pump the water to the boiler house and then to the presses.