The Edmonds’ Clock Tower on the corner of Chester Street East and Madras Street, Christchurch, was built in 1929 as part of a riverbank beautification scheme funded by prominent businessman and philanthropist, Thomas Edmonds, to mark the completion of 50 years’ of his residing in Christchurch. It is part of a wider heritage complex and has historical, aesthetic and architectural significance.

Famous for his company’s product, Edmonds’ ‘Sure to Rise’ Baking Powder, Thomas Edmonds was an enlightened employer and civic-minded. Towards the end of his career, he donated large sums of money for various civic improvement projects. One such project was the 1928-29 riverside beautification scheme at the newly named ‘Poplar Crescent’, so-named due to the poplar trees already planted there and also referencing Poplar, the London district where Edmonds was born. The key features of the scheme were a band rotunda, rest house and balustrades beside Cambridge Terrace and the Manchester Street Bridge, and a clock tower and nearby telephone cabinet beside Oxford Terrace/Chester Street East and the Madras Street Bridge. All items were completed in 1929.

The Edmonds’ Clock Tower was designed by architect Francis Willis in the ‘Free Style’, an architectural style characteristic of the interwar period, with sculptural elements created by well-known sculptor, William Trethewey. It was constructed in stone and reinforced concrete by the Rennell Brothers as builders. The stone used was widely sourced. A newspaper account at the time of its unveiling stated that the clock tower is constructed of stone brought from Halswell, the Rakaia Gorge, Glenmore, Otira Gorge, Lake Kanieri, Heathcote Valley, the Buller Gorge, Nelson, Alford Forest, Gore Bay, Peninsula Bays, Connemara (Ireland) and from the Vatican, Rome. The clock tower is just under ten metres in height. Buttresses extend from each corner of its square plan. A timber door on the east side allows entry into the tower, the paving in front of which is the wording ‘Poplar Crescent 1929’. Louvered windows are situated on each elevation, above the line of the buttresses and in the roof, and on the east and west sides are two clock faces. Sculptural elements include stylised acanthus leaves and fauna, lion head gargoyles, classically inspired inscriptions FAITH, HOPE, PEACE and CHARITY and, a pair of identical medallions portraying Thomas Edmonds as ‘Father Time’.

The Edmonds’ Clock Tower suffered damage in the Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010-11. In May 2012 the upper portion of the tower was temporarily removed and over 2013-15 repairs and strengthening was carried out.