Clocks, Public Turret Clock (horloge tourelle), English, 1671

Clocks, Public Turret Clock (horloge tourelle), English, 1671. Made by William Clement of London for Kings College, Cambridge, this iron clock was in use from 1671 until 1817. In 1819 it underwent considerable restoration by Thomas Safford, a Cambridge clockmaker, and was transferred to St Giles' Church in Cambridge. It is signed on one of the top bars: 'GULIELMUS CLEMENT LONDINI FECIT 1671' (William Clement of London made me in 1671). The timekeeping is controlled by a pendulum through a so-called ïanchor escapement. Clement was one of the possible inventors of the anchor escapement, which could be used with a smaller arc of swing for the pendulum than the verge escapement which preceded it. ©SSPL/Science Museum