Tower Clocks

Movement & mechanism

• Heavy iron-framed movements historically driven by large falling weights on a rope or wire
• Verge-and-foliot escapement in the earliest surviving examples, superseded by anchor and later gravity escapements
• Dial(s) driven remotely from the movement via rod or shaft trains, sometimes at a considerable distance
• Separate going, striking and (where fitted) chiming trains

Identification

• Scale — turret movements are dramatically larger than any domestic clock
• Iron (rather than brass) plates and frames are typical of pre-twentieth-century turret work
• Bell(s) mounted separately from the movement, struck by external hammers

Terminology

• Going train — the train that drives the hands/dials, as distinct from striking or chiming trains
• Turret clock — a synonym for tower clock, especially in British usage
• Great bell — the principal striking bell of a tower clock installation

Known variations

• Verge-and-foliot turret clocks (earliest surviving type)
• Gravity-escapement (e.g. Denny/Grimthorpe-type) turret clocks
• Electrically wound or synchronised turret clocks

Collecting notes

Turret clocks are collected and preserved largely in situ or by horological museums and preservation trusts rather than in private hands, owing to their scale; documentation of the responsible ironworks or clockmaking firm is central to their historical value.

Sources & references

1. Britten, F. J., Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers
2. The precise date and priority of the earliest mechanical tower clocks (e.g. Dunstable, Salisbury, Milan) remains debated in the literature.

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.