Seeing the number of holes in that ceiling I really am concerned that the floor the clock is on is the same as the one with the holes, and I would advise that you secure the floor if you return to the attic.
There's a non-zero chance the "floor" is just plywood laid across some of the beams and the holes are from people missing the beam in areas there's no plywood
The other thing of course is that those beams are *massive*. They weren't dicking about when they built it. It wasn't built down to a price like things are today.
It being a municipal hall at first, I wouldn't be surprised the town wanted to spend a little extra, but at the same time, I imagine they needed to calculate the weight of the clock tower and over-engineered it in case the weight put too much strain on one end. Seeing that it's all stone on the outside. Were you referring to the white beams on the blue ceiling, or other beams? I'm guessing it's to support the weight of the machinery.
