The Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower is a testament to Penang’s royal connections. Commissioned in 1897 by a local millionaire, Cheah Chen Eok, to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, it stands 60ft-high, with each foot representing a year of the Queen’s 60-year reign.
There are plenty of streets and landmarks all over the island named after blue bloods but The Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower, set on King Edward’s Place in Georgetown, is one of its best known. Interesting fact: although it is hardly noticeable, due to the impact from bombs being dropped around it during WWII, The Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower leans to one side, much like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Located south of Fort Cornwallis, The Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower was built at a cost of 35,000 Straits dollars and the gleaming whitewashed tower is topped by a Moorish dome. It has four tiers: the base is octagon-shaped and the following two tiers comprise four distinct sections with elaborate windows, balconies and a working clock on each side. The topmost tier is rounded off with Roman pillars and topped with a golden dome cupola.
The six steps leading up to the main entrance denote the number of decades of Queen Victoria's reign. Right beside The Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower is a 48m-high Pinang structure (a metal betel nut sculpture), which looks like two halves of the Pinang fruit.
Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower
- Location: At the intersection of Light Street, Beach Street (Lebuh Pantai) and King Edward’s Place (Persiaran King Edward).
