Originally however, they were fitted to the clock of the University Church, St Mary’s the Great, in Cambridge, England. Nearly everyone associates the Westminster chimes with the Clock Tower (also known as the ‘Big Ben Tower’) at the House of Parliament in London. The world’s most famous chimes are the Westminster. If it is necessary to move the hands either backward or forward, the clock will self-adjust within one hour. Some floor clocks available on the market today are equipped with a self-adjustment mechanism to ensure that the clock strikes and chimes at the proper time. This is accomplished by a lever on the dial face or by two draw-cords inside the cabinet.Ī new feature on some clocks is the night silencer that automatically silences the clock between 10:00 p.m. Most clocks have a means of silencing both the chime section and the hour strike. Tubes are 1″ to 1 1’2″ in diameter and 43″ to 62″ in length and create an entirely different tonal quality. A rare minority of floor clocks utilize chime tubes instead of rods. Chime rods are about 1/4″ in diameter and vary from 12″ to 17″ in length. The majority of floor clocks have a series of chime rods inside the case, which upon being struck by the clock’s “hammers” results in a harmonious chime.

Michael, and Whittington chimes sequentially or solely. Some clocks are now equipped with a sequential chime movement that plays Westminster, St. The Westminster Chime strikes four notes on the quarter-hour, eight notes on the half-hour, twelve notes on the three-quarter hour, and the hour chimes sixteen notes and strikes the hour Certain clocks are also supplied with triple chimes so that the turning of a selector switch on the dial face gives the choice of Westminster, Whittington, or St. The majority of Floor Clocks available today are equipped with Westminster Chimes.

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