![]() The plates had been marked out for a verge escapement, but the holes had not been drilled. The Fromanteel type movement (with split front plate) had been altered during its construction. Most of William Clement’s early clocks were turret clocks with anchor escapement and long pendulums, but one of his earliest longcase clocks was illustrated in “Horological Masterworks” published by the Antiquarian Horological Society in 2003, example number 19, has a very early movement. The anchor escapement was regulated by the Royal Pendulum, 1 metre in length and beating once every second. A short bob pendulum was introduced to regulate the verge by Ahasaureus Fromanteel in the first longcase clocks made by him in 1658. Most clocks prior to this were regulated with a verge escapement. William Clement, junior, must have assisted Walter from time to time, making his anchors which had prompted the idea of an anchor-shaped escapement. An earlier William who was baptised in 1638 must have died. So, we must assume that William was probably about 4 at that time. Their father, William, senior, had died in June 1646, almost 9 months before William’s baptism on 7th March 1647. His elder brother Walter was an anchorsmith in Rotherhithe and lived in the family home. ![]() He had been apprenticed to Thomas Chapman of the B.C. William Clement invented the anchor escapement about 1665. If it had not been for William Clement, clocks might still have been treated as objects of amusement and not useful timekeepers. A list of former Librarians, Curators and Keepers can be found here.One of the most important “great” clockmakers of the 17th century and probably the least well-known, was William Clement. The Company's library and archive still remains at the Guildhall Library. Although housed within the Science Museum, it remains an independent museum, accredited in its own right by Arts Council England. In 2015 the Clockmakers' Museum moved its collection to the Science Museum in South Kensington, where it occupies a gallery on the second floor. ![]() The Museum stayed within the Guildhall complex for the next 141 years, until its closure at that location in 2014. A decision was made to deposit both assets within the new Library and Museum at the Guildhall, which opened its doors to the public in 1873. In 1816, as more object 'specimens' were donated, the Library Committee expressed its interest in acquiring more examples of work by the early clock and watchmakers in order to document the history of the profession, and in doing so laid the foundations of what has now grown to be the Clockmakers' Museum.īy the 1870’s the Company had concerns about the lack of space available for it to organise and display the collection in a suitable manner, as well as the difficulty in enabling access for its members to the collection and library. ![]() The following year the great clockmaker Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy acquired three examples of horological objects from the property sale of the late clockmaker Alexander Cumming, which he donated to the Clockmakers' library. The origins of the Museum's collection can be traced back to 1814, with the establishment of a library of important horological books by the Clockmakers' Company. ![]()
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