Highland Council is weighing whether to restore the floral clock that once sat on the grassy slope beneath Inverness Castle, with proposals costing as much as £69,000. The timepiece, a well-known local feature, was dismantled in 2016 after falling into disrepair, and officials are now revisiting the idea following the castle's transformation into a major visitor site.
The original clock consisted of a 15ft (4.5m) circular flower bed with its mechanism concealed underground, first planted in 1990 for an entry in the Beautiful Scotland in Bloom, external contest. It remained in place for over two decades before it broke down, and Highland Council concluded at the time that fixing it was not financially worthwhile.
Why is the council reconsidering it now?
The renewed interest follows the reopening of the former sheriff court building as the £47m Inverness Castle Experience in February 2026, which has drawn fresh attention to the surrounding grounds. Highland Council's city of Inverness area committee is due to weigh several options for the site when it convenes next week.
The Inverness Castle Experience previously reopened as a major visitor attraction after its £47m renovation, drawing an estimated 450,000 visitors each year. According to the attraction's own announcement, the site was formally opened by government ministers that month following the multi-year transformation project.
What options are on the table?
Council officials have outlined a range of choices, from the cheapest option of simply mowing over the existing flower beds to a full clock restoration. Continuing to tend the current beds without a clock, or turfing them over entirely, are listed as the lowest-cost paths forward.
Bringing back the clock alongside conventional flower plantings is estimated to cost up to £64,000, plus roughly £32,000 a year to maintain, since the flowers would need replacing three times annually and tending up to three times a day. A
