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Clock tower
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<h2 id="definition">Definition</h2> <p>There are many <a href="/facts/Structures/xQDPtqDQ">structures</a> that may have clocks or clock faces attached to them and some structures have had clocks added to an existing structure. According to the <a href="/facts/Council_on_Tall_Buildings_and_Urban_Habitat/AbRv2rvE">Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat</a> a structure is defined as a building if at least fifty percent of its height is made up of floor plates containing habitable floor area. Structures that do not meet this criterion, are defined as <a href="/facts/Towers/3k5G8kJt">towers</a>. A clock tower historically fits this definition of a tower and therefore can be defined as any tower specifically built with one or more (often four) <a href="/facts/Clock/MYolzNkw">clock</a> <a href="/facts/Clock_face/3n6cnGxW">faces</a> and that can be either freestanding or part of a <a href="/facts/Church_(building)/gtw3YSsd">church</a> or municipal building such as a <a href="/facts/Town_hall/y4XjQrg7">town hall</a>. Not all clocks on buildings therefore make the building into a clock tower. </p><p>The mechanism inside the tower is known as a <a href="/facts/Turret_clock/I6KTz5W3">turret clock</a>. It often marks the hour (and sometimes segments of an hour) by sounding large <a href="/facts/Bell_(instrument)/oU1E1JHg">bells</a> or <a href="/facts/Chime_(bell_instrument)/mw8bIyk0">chimes</a>, sometimes playing simple musical phrases or tunes. Some clock towers were previously built as <a href="/facts/Bell_towers/fuX9lXGo">Bell towers</a> and then had clocks added to them. As these structures fulfil the definition of a tower they can be considered to be clock towers. </p> <h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>Although clock towers are today mostly admired for their aesthetics, they once served an important purpose. Before the middle of the twentieth century, most people did not have watches, and prior to the 18th century even home clocks were rare. The first <a href="/facts/Clock/MYolzNkw">clocks</a> did not have faces, but were solely <a href="/facts/Striking_clock/EqLFQwjk">striking clocks</a>, which sounded bells to call the surrounding community to work or to prayer. They were therefore placed in towers so the bells would be audible for a long distance. Clock towers were placed near the centres of towns and were often the tallest structures there. As clock towers became more common, the designers realized that a <a href="/facts/Clock_face/3n6cnGxW">dial</a> on the outside of the tower would allow the townspeople to read the time whenever they wanted. </p><p>The use of clock towers dates back to <a href="/facts/Ancient_history/P0fFQ8z5">antiquity</a>. The earliest clock tower was the <a href="/facts/Tower_of_the_Winds/18xArzCe">Tower of the Winds</a> in <a href="/facts/Athens/mBxlp8X1">Athens</a>, which featured eight <a href="/facts/Sundial/RWM823m2">sundials</a> and was created in the 1st century BC during the period of <a href="/facts/Roman_Greece/137eD11z">Roman Greece</a>. In its interior, there was also a <a href="/facts/Water_clock/GCgGB46l">water clock</a> (or clepsydra), driven by water coming down from the <a href="/facts/Acropolis,_Athens/lqIuuC2F">Acropolis</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> </p> <p>In <a href="/facts/Song_dynasty/FxV5bXS5">Song dynasty</a> <a href="/facts/History_of_China/TNqRSvQ4">China</a>, an <a href="/facts/Astronomical_clock/8yaTPexw">astronomical clock</a> tower was designed by <a href="/facts/Su_Song/npEcuVbf">Su Song</a> and erected at <a href="/facts/Kaifeng/PR335kbE">Kaifeng</a> in 1088, featuring a liquid <a href="/facts/Escapement/8AgmCy7C">escapement</a> mechanism.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> In England, a clock was put up in a clock tower, the medieval precursor to <a href="/facts/Big_Ben/fB5vSpbe">Big Ben</a>, at <a href="/facts/City_of_Westminster/8pvuYHq2">Westminster</a>, in 1288;<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> and in 1292 a clock was put up in <a href="/facts/Canterbury_Cathedral/CbW7E4wH">Canterbury Cathedral</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> The oldest surviving turret clock formerly part of a clock tower in Europe is the <a href="/facts/Salisbury_Cathedral_clock/WpXJ0TPs">Salisbury Cathedral clock</a>, completed in 130. A clock put up at <a href="/facts/St._Albans/bI9qJMIr">St. Albans</a>, in 1326, 'showed various astronomical phenomena'.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p><a href="/facts/Al-Jazari/ycMzl2tU">Al-Jazari</a> of the <a href="/facts/Artuqid_dynasty/P5R1CwmW">Artuqid dynasty</a> in <a href="/facts/Upper_Mesopotamia/MH8EA0Su">Upper Mesopotamia</a> constructed an elaborate clock called the "castle clock" and described it in his <i>Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices</i> in 1206. It was about 3.3 metres (11 feet) high, and had multiple functions alongside <a href="/facts/Timekeeping/6ApueJCc">timekeeping</a>. It included a display of the <a href="/facts/Zodiac/v7sWp0ef">zodiac</a> and the solar and lunar paths, and a pointer in the shape of the <a href="/facts/Crescent/H9oQTpVm">crescent moon</a> that travelled across the top of a <a href="/facts/Gate/1pmqQj8G">gateway</a>, moved by a hidden <a href="/facts/Cart/l5WKBUWf">cart</a> and causing automatic doors to open, each revealing a <a href="/facts/Mannequin/BtdHjehu">mannequin</a>, every hour.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> It was possible to re-program the length of <a href="/facts/Daytime_(astronomy)/nR7raDjV">day</a> and <a href="/facts/Night/aeJtffky">night</a> daily in order to account for the changing lengths of day and night throughout the year, and it also featured five <a href="/facts/Robot/S5mDzWYk">robotic</a> musicians who automatically play music when moved by <a href="/facts/Lever/HYDtMuAq">levers</a> operated by a hidden <a href="/facts/Camshaft/qS8BWXVr">camshaft</a> attached to a <a href="/facts/Water_wheel/7xwQDxrP">water wheel</a>. </p><p>Line (mains) synchronous tower clocks were introduced in the United States in the 1920s. </p> <h2 id="landmarks">Landmarks</h2> <p>Some clock towers have become famous landmarks. Prominent examples include <a href="/facts/Big_Ben/fB5vSpbe">Elizabeth Tower</a> built in 1859, which houses the <a href="/facts/Big_Ben/fB5vSpbe">Great Bell</a> (generally known as <i>Big Ben</i>) in <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> the tower of <a href="/facts/Philadelphia_City_Hall/P2yJjlYI">Philadelphia City Hall</a>, the <a href="/facts/Rajabai_Tower/cCDgmIXf">Rajabai Tower</a> in <a href="/facts/Mumbai/BdoEc10R">Mumbai</a>, the <a href="/facts/Spasskaya_Tower/YgL6G75J">Spasskaya Tower</a> of the <a href="/facts/Moscow_Kremlin/yvbofbcu">Moscow Kremlin</a>, the <a href="/facts/St_Mark%27s_Clocktower/x10ULL62">Torre dell'Orologio</a> in the <a href="/facts/Piazza_San_Marco/QlyBeePb">Piazza San Marco</a> in <a href="/facts/Venice/Xzc2uVDg">Venice</a>, <a href="/facts/Italy/tUf0PDYF">Italy</a>, the <a href="/facts/Peace_Tower/tbdoDK3a">Peace Tower</a> of the <a href="/facts/Parliament_of_Canada/4YQfaTxt">Parliament of Canada</a> in <a href="/facts/Ottawa/x5FkqX7F">Ottawa</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Zytglogge/547rAnlL">Zytglogge</a> clock tower in the <a href="/facts/Old_City_(Bern)/KosmGKl7">Old City</a> of <a href="/facts/Bern/weUyCRsh">Bern</a>, <a href="/facts/Switzerland/LcGuxeTe">Switzerland</a>. </p> <h2 id="records">Records</h2> <p>The tallest freestanding clock tower in the world is the <a href="/facts/Joseph_Chamberlain_Memorial_Clock_Tower/sEdf0PWx">Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower</a> (Old Joe) at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Birmingham/b2YEFk2X">University of Birmingham</a> in <a href="/facts/Birmingham/lNd1h81V">Birmingham</a>, United Kingdom.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> The tower stands at 100 metres (330 feet) tall and was completed in 1908. The clock tower of <a href="/facts/Philadelphia_City_Hall/P2yJjlYI">Philadelphia City Hall</a> was part of the tallest building in the world from 1894,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> when the tower was <a href="/facts/Topped_out/G1dP66eX">topped out</a> and the building partially occupied,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> until 1908. </p><p>Taller buildings have had clock faces added to their existing structure such as the <a href="/facts/Palace_of_Culture_and_Science/xR3Gkj8n">Palace of Culture and Science</a> in <a href="/facts/Warsaw/0cRqN3pw">Warsaw</a>, with a clock added in 2000. The building has a roof height of 187.68 m (615.7 ft), and an antenna height of 237 m (778 ft). The <a href="/facts/NTT_Docomo_Yoyogi_Building/0fboLkwF">NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building</a> in <a href="/facts/Tokyo/GTvuw4ct">Tokyo</a>, with a clock added in 2002, has a roof height of 240 m (790 ft), and an antenna height of 272 m (892 ft). </p><p>The <a href="/facts/Abraj_Al_Bait/xung6g1B">Abraj Al Bait</a>, a hotel complex in <a href="/facts/Mecca/udqyuk0k">Mecca</a> constructed in 2012, has the largest and highest clock face on a building in the world, with its Makkah Royal Clock Tower having an occupied height of 494.4 m (1,622 ft), and a tip height of 601 m (1,972 ft).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> The tower has four clock faces, two of which are 43 m (141 ft) in diameter, at about 400 m (1,300 ft) high.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/List_of_clock_towers/AvUQY9Sb">List of clock towers</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Bell_tower/fuX9lXGo">Bell tower</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Minaret/4f9J9Gsq">Minaret</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Street_clock/4JE2vzSL">Street clock</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Thirteenth_stroke_of_the_clock/EJQv6RPx">Thirteenth stroke of the clock</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> Wikimedia Commons has media related to Clock towers. <ul><li><a href="http://www.towerclocks.org/">Towerclocks.org - Tower clocks database</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.scotcities.com/railways/clocks.htm">Railway Station Clock Towers</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190222151926/http://www.scotcities.com/railways/clocks.htm">Archived</a> 2019-02-22 at the <a href="/facts/Wayback_Machine/nmQ3a6JC">Wayback Machine</a> Architecture of time</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Noble, Joseph V.; de Solla Price, Derek J. (1968). "The Water Clock in the Tower of the Winds". American Journal of Archaeology. 72 (4): 345–355 (353). doi:10.2307/503828. JSTOR 503828. S2CID 193112893. <a href="/wiki/American_Journal_of_Archaeology" target="_blank">/wiki/American_Journal_of_Archaeology</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Bodde, Derk (1991), Chinese Thought, Society, and Science, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, p. 140. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Clocks, Encyclopædia Britannica 5, 835 (1951). <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Frederick Tupper, Jr., 'Anglo-Saxon Dæg-Mæl', Publications of the Modern Language Association of America, Vol. 10, No. 2 (1895), p. 130, citing Archæologia, v, 416. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Clocks, Encyclopædia Britannica 5, 835 (1951). <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Clocks, Encyclopædia Britannica 5, 835 (1951). <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Howard R. Turner (1997), Science in Medieval Islam: An Illustrated Introduction, p. 184. University of Texas Press, ISBN 0-292-78149-0. <a href="/wiki/University_of_Texas_Press" target="_blank">/wiki/University_of_Texas_Press</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East", Scientific American, May 1991, p. 64-69. (cf. Donald Routledge Hill, Mechanical Engineering Archived December 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine) <a href="/wiki/Donald_Routledge_Hill" target="_blank">/wiki/Donald_Routledge_Hill</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"UK Parliament - Big Ben". Retrieved 2009-10-27. <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/bigben/" target="_blank">http://www.parliament.uk/bigben/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower". Skyscraper News. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2014. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180701165056/http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=156" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20180701165056/http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=156</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form". (archive) National Park Service. page 10. Retrieved November 9, 2017. "The statue was … hoisted to the top of the tower in fourteen sections in 1894." <a href="https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/b7e04e22-561d-42a0-95da-9cea7148d3a9/" target="_blank">https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/b7e04e22-561d-42a0-95da-9cea7148d3a9/</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>""History of City Hall: 1886-1890". (archive) Retrieved November 9, 2017. "1889: Mayor Fitler moves into completed offices on west side." <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100220000022/http://www.ajaxelectric.com/cityhall/history5.htm" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20100220000022/http://www.ajaxelectric.com/cityhall/history5.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"History of City Hall: 1891-1901". (archive) Retrieved November 9, 2017. "1891: State Supreme Court opens in permanent courtroom." <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100220000029/http://www.ajaxelectric.com/cityhall/history6.htm" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20100220000029/http://www.ajaxelectric.com/cityhall/history6.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>"Makkah Royal Clock Tower ". skyscrapercenter.com. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved May 20, 2018. <a href="http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/makkah-royal-clock-tower/84" target="_blank">http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/makkah-royal-clock-tower/84</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>"Dokaae Tower Clock And Crescent" Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. pct.ae. Premier Composite Technologies. Retrieved May 21, 2018. <a href="http://www.pct.ae/composite_projects.php?project=1" target="_blank">http://www.pct.ae/composite_projects.php?project=1</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>