Palmeira Square's 1953 Floral Clock is beyond repair. The council is asking which of three replacements residents want, and the survey shuts on 14 October.
Hove’s Floral Clock, planted in 1953 for the Queen’s coronation, is not coming back, and residents now have three weeks to say what should stand in its place. Brighton & Hove City Council opened a survey on the future of the Palmeira Square landmark on 16 September. It closes at 11.59pm on Wednesday 14 October.
The council’s position is blunt. The clock mechanism “has not worked for many years” and “the mound and supporting infrastructure are beyond repair”, so “preserving it in its current form is no longer feasible” (Brighton & Hove City Council, 16 September 2026).
The three options
Residents and garden users are asked to choose between:
- A sculptural armillary sphere, a globe sundial, marking the site’s timekeeping history. The anniversary date of the Queen’s coronation would be marked on it.
- A new sculptural feature inspired by the original clock, with a fixed clock face reading 19:53 for the year of the coronation, and a public competition to design the artwork on its sides.
- Transferring the site to a community group, which would take on the feature and fund and shape its future as a community asset.
The survey sits on the council’s Your Voice platform and covers the north section of Palmeira Square, where the clock sits.
This is not the first time residents have been asked
Palmeira Square has been through a long consultation already. The council’s re-landscaping consultation on the north section, opened in August 2025, drew 1,119 responses. New pathways and a Mediterranean planting scheme followed, worked up with residents and the Friends of Palmeira Square, and the planting is now complete.
The clock itself was left out of that. An earlier survey on its future split the city almost exactly down the middle: the council says 40% backed a new feature such as a modern artwork or a sculptural sundial, while 41% wanted to keep a reference to the existing floral clock. A petition in support of keeping the Floral Clock was presented to the council.
That split is why option two exists. It is an attempt to satisfy both answers at once: a new object, but one that still reads as a clock and still says 1953.
As of the early hours of Wednesday 24 September, the new survey had taken 214 responses from 213 participants, with 50 people following it.
Councillor Alan Robins, cabinet member for sports, recreation and libraries, said: “We appreciate that replacing the Floral Clock is a sensitive issue and that’s why we are taking our time and working closely with the local community to explore different options.”
He added: “I would encourage residents to take part in the consultation and help us create a feature that will become as well-loved as the Floral Clock.”
What a floral clock actually is
The point is worth making because it explains the repair problem. A floral clock is not a clock with flowers around it. It is a raised bed, usually a mound, with a working mechanism buried inside it driving hands across a face made of bedding plants, which have to be replanted every year. When the mechanism fails, what is left is a flower bed shaped like a clock.
That is what Palmeira Square has had for years, and it is why the council is talking about the mound and the supporting infrastructure rather than just the movement.
What it means for you
- The clock is not being restored. None of the three options put a working floral clock back. If that is what you want, the survey is the only place on the record to say so before a decision is taken.
- Option three would take the site off the council’s books. If a community group took it on, that group would fund it. No group has been named.
- The deadline is 11.59pm on Wednesday 14 October, through the Your Voice survey.
- The council has not said when a decision follows. It says responses “will help us understand which option is most supported”.
- The new paths and Mediterranean planting around the clock are already in, so the rest of the north section is not in question here.
If you are heading over to look at it, our guide to parking in Brighton covers the Hove zones, and things to do in Brighton has more on the city’s parks and squares.
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