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Public Clocks in Coventry

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Roger T
Torksey
1 of 13  Mon 14th Nov 2016 11:22am  

An item under "Buses and public transport" set me wondering about this subject. It was the unusual position and fixture of that one on the roof of the café in Pool Meadow. Coventry was a town of watch and clock makers, and before the advent of cheap digital etc, there was obviously a need for public display of time. I can remember St Johns Church had one, there is that outstanding one in the Burges and I noticed a similar one in a recent photo of war damaged Broadgate, and I remember my grandfather kept a chunk of glass from the Market Hall clock that blew out in a gale in 18** something or other, and I also noticed there was a thread on bus stop clocks. But where did they come from, how did they emanate, were they part of town planning or official direction, or were they a sort of advert or just a public spirited adornment to a building? Who was responsible for them and who wound them and advanced and retarded them in summer and winter times? I would guess the present day Godiva revolving clock is serviced by a man from the City Engineers Dept. Did/does St Johns Church clock strike? PS I still use a Grandfather Clock.
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
Midland Red

2 of 13  Mon 14th Nov 2016 12:20pm  

Great post, Roger Thumbs up Here's the one in Burges and St John's Church and another one for your list, at the Council House
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
Kaga simpson
Peacehaven, East Sussex
3 of 13  Mon 14th Nov 2016 1:02pm  

A century or so ago one was not allowed to be one minute late for work or such, and people could not afford watches so it is my belief that clocks were put in prominent places for the public to know the time. Trains and trams ran on time. Time was more important then than now.
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
Prof
Gloucester
4 of 13  Wed 3rd Jun 2020 10:28pm  

Post copied from topic Corporation Street on 4th Jun 2020 12:53 pm
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
Dreamtime
Perth Western Australia
5 of 13  Thu 4th Jun 2020 5:36am  

Thumbs up Prof and another clock. It makes we wonder just how many clocks there were round the city at that time (scuse the pun). Could it have been because of the clock/watchmaking industry influence? I always remembered the Gas Showrooms as we called it then, must have been going upstairs to eat - no burgers up there though. PS. And were they all synchronized to show the same time?
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
JohnnieWalker
Sanctuary Point, Australia
6 of 13  Thu 4th Jun 2020 8:28am  

Hi Dreamtime - public clocks would have been very important in the days before we could all afford a wristwatch (or a fancy mobile phone that's also clever enough to tell us the time!). The better-off had fob watches in their jacket pockets (I remember my granddad having one), but the poorer members of society would have to rely on roosters, church bells or public clocks - or for factory workers, the factory hooter (I remember the GEC's Copsewood "reminder"!). It would have been seen as a valuable public service for a business to put a clock on their premises. Maybe Kaga has an anecdote on this...
True Blue Coventry Kid

Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
Kaga simpson
Peacehaven, East Sussex
7 of 13  Thu 4th Jun 2020 10:52am  

Yes JW, I did a post about it earlier, God knows where, that the clocks were for the workers, for you were turned away from a factory if late. They mostly were high, to be seen easily.
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
Annewiggy
Tamworth
8 of 13  Thu 4th Jun 2020 12:38pm  

On 4th Jun 2020 5:36am, Dreamtime said: And were they all synchronized to show the same time?
Dreamtime, according to the newspaper in the early 20th century some places of business paid a small fee and could connect to the Market Clock Tower by telephone and could hear the actual time struck. They would call about 2 minutes before the hour and stayed on the line until the hour struck. I don't know when this stopped but an article on 29th September 1954 when the speaking clock first became available to telephone subscribers on most Coventry exchanges it mentions that system as being in use 30 years before. Before the speaking clock you would ring the exchange and they would give you the time off the exchange clock which was only accurate to about 30 seconds.
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
20A-Manor House
Coventry
9 of 13  Thu 11th Jun 2020 10:27am  

The Co-op clock that was in Corporation Street.
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
Prof
Gloucester
10 of 13  Tue 16th Jun 2020 10:50am  

H Samuel clock, Trinity Street.
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
PeterB
Mount Nod
11 of 13  Thu 23rd Jul 2020 7:54pm  

The demolition of Coventry Point has revealed this disused clock on what was (when I moved to Coventry) the Gas Showroom.
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
NeilsYard
Coventry
12 of 13  Tue 13th Jul 2021 9:09am  

Does anyone know what happened to that H Samuel clock?

Question

Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry
Dreamtime
Perth Western Australia
13 of 13  Wed 14th Jul 2021 5:29am  

Neil, you have taken those very words out of my mouth. I don't want to hear the worst. Roll eyes
Local History and Heritage - Public Clocks in Coventry

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