Downes Clock Tower
Downes Clock Tower, also called Downes Memorial, is situated between Williams Memorial and the Trinity College Chapel. It serves as a gateway into the Main Quad, and a main entrance into the campus itself. The tower is about 60 feet tall, modeled directly after the Edward III Clock Tower of Trinity College in Cambridge, England. It is made of brick and limestone in an effort to blend together the building styles of Williams and the Chapel, and built in the style of English Gothic architecture. The clock is on the north and south faces of the tower.
The tower was ultimately erected to fill the gap in between Williams Memorial and the Chapel. Louis Welton Downes was a class of 1888 graduate and later a trustee, and had wanted to build a replica of the Edward III tower on Trinity's campus. He had promised funds to the school, and in 1951 submitted five sketches of the tower to the Trustee Board, which picked the final design. Downes died in 1953, and Trinity received the money left in his will that was dedicated to building the tower in 1954. Harold B. Willis was chosen to oversee the final construction, which was started in 1957 and finished in November 1958.
Within the tower are offices, including the President's office for a period of time in the 1980s. The Trustees Room was originally placed on the second floor of the tower immediately following its construction. The Clock Tower also holds the Brownell Hall cornerstone from the original campus.
Sources
Trinity College in the Twentieth Century (2000) by Peter and Anne Knapp, pp. 238-239.
Trinity College Bulletin: The Annual Report of the President (1988-1989).
Trinity College Bulletin: The President's Report (1959).
The Trinity Tripod, 02/13/1957.