The Clock Hotel is a well known landmark on the A1M, with the original building having been built in 1929 on a village playing field between the Great North Road and the Welwyn By-pass. The first newspaper advert appeared in the Welwyn Times on 22 August 1929 advertising lunches, teas, dinners and dances every Saturday evening 8 - 12 at 3/6 for a single ticket and 6/- for a double - that also included refreshments.
In February 1936 The Clock put in an application for the grant of a full licence for the restaurant to be able to serve drinks with meals. The Justices ruled that a licence would be granted for the supply of alcohol with meals only, and it would apply to the ground floor of the premises only.
The actual clock of the Clock Hotel stood about 15 feet from the ground in its own small tower (see photos) near the entrance, which was then The Great North Road (A1). Sadly it only lasted about 20 years before the ravages of time ground its mechanism to a halt. The Tower, along with the clock was dismantled in the 1950s. In the 1970s the Clock Hotel was bought by John Mildenhall. He was determined to replace the once famous landmark, and in 1986 a scheme to intall a new block of bedrooms gave him just the opportunity. A clock tower was built which housed the staircase leading to the upper bedrooms. The clock itself was ordered from specialist clock-makers in Derby. It was an ultra-modern, electronically powered timepiece designed to last a lifetime. The new clock weighed in at 3 tonnes and cost £30,000 and was the biggest built in Britain for 30 years. In its new elevated position it would be seen from the motorway. In August 1986 it was raised into its new position.
Mildenhall owned the hotel for 16 years, where they turned it from a roadside restaurant into a luxury 100 bedroomed hotel and conference centre. In 1988 they sold the hotel to the Baron Hotel Group. In 1991 it was sold again to the Friendly Hotels Group, by which time its name had changed to the Quality Clock Hotel. By now you could not only stay at the hotel but partake in dinner dances, quiz nights and cabarets. It had also become a popular luncheon venue. In 2009 the Real Hotel Company, that owned Quality Hotels, went into administration and in February of that year the Clock Hotel closed its doors for good. In March the hotel was put up for sale for £2.5m.
In May 2009 the clock hotel site was sold to Runwood Homes for the full asking price of £2.5m. Runwood were a care home company looking to develop the site into a residential care home. The first plans were refused but in September 2010 two sets of plans were submitted to Welwyn Hatfield Council. One for a 50 bedroomed hotel on the front portion of the site and the second for a 59 bedroomed care home on the larger portion of the site at the back with the access being in Roman Road.
On Thursday 11 November 2010 huge fire ripped through the Clock Hotel destroying almost half of the historic building, the old ballroom was completely lost. Around 60 firefighters battled for over six hours in the heat to bring the fire under control. Fire investigators believed the fire was started deliberately in the old section of the building. Fire investigation dogs were sent in when it was safe but no traces of accelerants were found.
Since then the surviving parts of hotel have plundered by metal thieves and the elements have begun to finish the job the fire started. Sadly it looks like the end has come for The Clock Hotel.
