The group was, to a person, made up of horologists – whether by trade or by passionate enthusiasm – and needed no introduction to the workings of a fine clock.

The day began with a tour of the Cathedral, before the party made its way up into Tom Tower itself for a close encounter with Great Tom. This was a group well used to seeing clocks close up, but climbing the tower proved a rare privilege even by their standards, a wonderful addition to many a well-travelled repertoire, and the historic graffiti scratched into the staircase and wood around the mechanism was a particular source of fascination.

To do the occasion justice, the Company welcomed two of its own Past Masters to provide a scholarly account of the tower's history. Keith Scobie-Youngs of the Cumbria Clock Company, Master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in 2024, whose credentials extend well beyond Oxford (he and his team led the recent five-year restoration of the Great Clock of Westminster, better known as Big Ben), co-authored the text with Dr James Nye, also a Past Master of the Company, Chairman of the Antiquarian Horological Society and founder of London's Clockworks Museum:

"Tom Tower had a first clock installed in 1685, but its maker presently remains unknown. This was maintained and probably upgraded through to 1889 when it was entirely replaced by a new flatbed turret clock from J. B. Joyce of Whitchurch, very likely with a double three-legged gravity escapement (like Big Ben). The time is presented on two dials, and the clock strikes the hours on Great Tom (7 tons 12cwt), while a separate electric tolling machine rings the 101 bell curfew at 9.05pm each evening, representing nine o'clock Oxford time, retarded from GMT by virtue of its westerly longitude. The clock was first converted to direct electric drive by Smith & Son of Derby using their T1 synchronous drive and H1 strike unit in 1986, which was in turn upgraded to a Smith & Son T1R synchronous motor and master clock controlled strike motor in 2016."

Suitably enlightened, and no doubt already checking their own watches against Great Tom's Oxford timekeeping, the party retired for a delightful lunch, with much good-natured debate as to whether a clockmaker can ever truly be off duty in a city full of chiming bells.

The afternoon brought a final treat: a visit to the Upper Library, where the librarians had generously laid out a selection of the College's horological books for the group to pore over. For a room of self-confessed clock enthusiasts, it was rather like leaving children loose in a sweet shop, and few needed much persuading to linger.

The Company extends its warm gratitude to all the staff at Christ Church who made the day possible, and hopes it will not be the last time the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers finds itself drawn back to Tom Tower.

Kirsten Wheatley
Clerk to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers