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The

Christ's Hospital

Dining Hall

Clock

A

Wonderfully historical

and exceptionally

and Crafts wall clock.

The

Christ's Hospital

Dining Hall Clock

1879

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The Hertford Christ's Hospital dining hall in 1879

The Clock

The Clock Described is a massive mid Victorian Wall Clock. The large, stunning, high quality brass and iron movement is housed in a heavy duty solid oak case. The case, which can be described as an early Arts & Crafts design and the movement are both in superb and original condition throughout. Having been made soley for the purpose of serving Christ's Hospital and it's pupils - the clock has a wonderfully illustrated provenance, it's history which connects its maker to Big Ben and its benefactor to P &O Ferries, Sir Barnes Wallis and the Bouncing Bomb of  World War II - is a most fascinating story - which is revealed below!

The Movement

The Movement of 8-day duration is of the highest specification, with a deadbeat escapement, maintaining power, stop work to the winding, counterpoising to the motion work and passing strike on a large bell. The weight line passes above the movement over a winding barrel to keep the brass-cased weight to the side and clear of a tubular brass bob and its wooden rod. The pendulum itself its hung from the backboard.

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Above. The Movement of 8-day duration is of the highest specification, with a deadbeat escapement, maintaining power, stop work to the winding, counterpoising to the motion work and passing strike on a large bell. Photographed by Lee Borrett

The Case

The Original Case is of very heavy thickly cut oak, 33” wide and 56” high. Below the dial a chevron-shaped door still bears the original gilded statement: that the clock was gifted by B.A. Willcox, a Governor & Almoner (of Christ’s Hospital) in 1879.

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Above. Below the dial a chevron-shaped door still bears the original gilded statement: that the clock was gifted by B.A. Willcox, a Governor & Almoner (of Christ’s Hospital) in 1879. Photographed by Lee Borrett

Below. The weight line passes above the movement over a winding barrel to keep the brass-cased weight to the side and clear of a tubular brass bob and its wooden rod. The pendulum itself its hung from the backboard. Photographed by Lee Borrett

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The Dial

The Painted Iron Dial is 24” diameter with block Roman numerals, black minute ring and bears the name Brock (of) 64 Portman Sq London, below which is serial number 1732.

Behind glass and a gilded sighting are the original blued steel hands; the unusual shape of the hour hand echoing the shape of the door and the case base.

The Clockmaker

James Brock, 1826-1893

James Brock was the foreman in Edward Dent's workshop, overseeing the building of The Great Westminster Clock at The Palace of Westminster (Big Ben to the uninitiated). Brock throughout his career worked closley with Edward Beckett Denison (designer of the Great Westminster Clock).

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Above. In March 1859, after testing and refining the clock (Big Ben to the uninitiated!) was finally installed in the world-famous clock tower. Alamy.com

A highly respected clock, watch and chronometer maker, James Brock oversaw the construction of the Great Clock for the Palace of Westminster in the workshop of E.J.Dent. In March 1859, after testing and refining the clock (Big Ben to the uninitiated!) was finally installed in the world-famous clock tower. 

 

Work began on the clock in 1852  after an 8-year dispute with the Royal Clockmaker Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy (1780-1854) who lost the contract, largely because he refused to submit plans and estimates for the contract until 2 years after it was put out to tender by the Government of the day.

 

The clock’s mechanism was designed by Edward Beckett Denison (later to become Lord Grimthorpe) to specifications laid down by the Astronomer Royal George Biddulph Airy (1801-1892) and it was the foreman of Dent’s Workshop, Brock, who oversaw the prestigious scheme. Brock later left Dent’s employment and setting up business on his own account in George Street, Portman Square, it was here that he was commissioned by B.A. Willcox to build the clock for Christ’s Hospital. Brock was held in great esteem by Dent, and therefore allowed to produce clocks under his own name while employed by Dent’s, for whom he seems to have made the majority of their regulators, including for E J Dent’s successors after he had left their direct employ. As their outworker, his serial numbers therefore fell within Dent’s own series, and can be dated by reference to the records of Dent’s production.

 

Brock died in 1893 at the age of 67. Writing in the Horologist Magazine Lord Grimthorpe said of him: “I am sorry to say – James Brock is dead. He was an excellent and charming man who built a sufficient factory in a stable-yard in that region where we made the Westminster clock and sundry other large ones.”

 

One other ‘large’ clock of Brock’s is on permanent display at the British Museum.

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Showing Edward Beckett Denison with The Great Westminster Clock.The clock’s mechanism was designed by Denison (later to become Lord Grimthorpe) to specifications laid down by the Astronomer Royal George Biddulph Airy (1801-1892) and it was the foreman of Dent’s Workshop- James Brock, who oversaw the construction of that enormous machine. Image by Alamy.com

original early Arts 

Made of massive and

heavy proportions, the

clock is of the highest

quality and has a 

and most interesting/

amazing provenance.

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