Overview

• A mid-1970s Essex Design Guide requirement led Asda’s 1977 South Woodham Ferrers store to feature a 14th-century barn-style facade with a Victorian-style clock tower.
• Rival chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons replicated the style nationwide through the 1980s and 1990s.
• Most supermarket clock towers are purely ornamental and often display the wrong time after high upkeep costs sidelined maintenance budgets.
• By the late 1990s retailers shifted to cheaper glass-and-steel designs, ending the widespread use of barn-style architecture.
• Many existing supermarkets still retain these decorative towers and recent public interest has reignited conversations about their nostalgic significance.