The Clock Tower
Summer 2023 - Clock hands on display
If you're in Manchester this summer with time on your hands, make sure to call in to Manchester's Central Library. One of the four pairs of massive clock hands is on display in the main entrance, the Shakespeare Hall, until the end of September. Read our Press Release about the display.
Background
The Town Hall clock tower stands 280ft tall over Manchester; its four dials have kept time for our city since New Year’s Day 1879. An inscription on the three sides that are visible from Albert Square reads "Teach us to number our Days."
Behind those dials, towards the top of a 173-step staircase, the clock mechanism is an exceptional piece of engineering. Made by Gillet and Bland, experts say it would have been “the Rolls Royce of clocks” in its day, as it features a particularly fine ‘escapement’ (the bit that maintains the swing of the pendulum, allowing the clock’s wheels to turn with each swing, moving the clock’s hands forward.) It remains one of the most important time-pieces in the UK.
The clock chimes, that Mancunians hear so often, are sounded by some of the 24 bells in the tower; the huge ‘Hour Bell’ weighs over 8 tons. Right at the very top of the tower, it’s called Great Abel, after Abel Heywood, the Mayor at the time of the official Town Hall opening.
Works to the clock
Because we have colleagues working on the scaffolding, over the roofs and up the tower, we won’t hear the chimes for a while: we need to protect our colleagues’ ears from Great Abel.
A key heritage aspect of the Our Town Hall Project, the restoration of the clock has seen it removed from the building for some time. It'll only return once the tower works have been completed and the clock’s precision tested at length. We’ll be following its progress closely with plenty of photographs, film clips and interviews with the experts.
We caught up with Stuart from Cumbria Clocks, who explained more about the work they'll do. You can watch his interview on You Tube.
When will it be back?
The return of our clock to its rightful home will be a cause for great celebration, and we’ll welcome it back towards the end of the Our Town Hall Project, with peals of the bells and a ceremonial “setting it going again” event.
Open the Clock Tower album in flickr
