Hampton Court astronomical clock is a sixteenth-century astronomical clock in

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

History and description

The clock was installed in 1540 on the gatehouse to the inner court at

. It was designed by Nicholas Crazter and made by Nicholas Oursian. This pre- Copernican and pre-

Galilean Generically, a Galilean (; he, גלילי; grc, Γαλιλαίων; la, Galilaeos) is an inhabitant of Galilee, a region of Israel surrounding the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret). The New Testament notes that the Apostle Peter's accent gave him a ...

astronomical clock is still functioning. The clock is in diameter with three separate copper dials revolving at different speeds and displays the following information: * Hour * Month ** Day of month * Twelve signs of the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...

** Position of the Sun in the ecliptic relative to the background stars (zodiac) * Number of days since the beginning of the year *

Phases of the moon Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the t ...

** Days since last new moon ( "age of the moon") *** Hour when it passes meridian/anti-meridian and thus

high water Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can ...

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

. The latter information was of great importance to those visiting this Thames-side palace from London, as the preferred method of transport at the time was by barge. Two consequences flowed: journey time, which departing around high water would speed instead of hinder; and all but the most skilled or reckless watermen above the bridge would avoid nearing

at times of great surface-water ebb under the (then famously built-up, barrage-like) bridge to avoid being swept into the starlings (cutwaters) or arches above. The clock was restored in 1711 by William Herbert, with a simplified 18th century face, while retaining the 24-hour dial, and a single clock hand. The astrological dials were removed, and subsequently mislaid. In 1831 the mechanism was replaced with that of a 1799 clock from

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Altho ...

. In 1879 the astronomical dials were rediscovered and replaced, and

Gillett & Bland Gillett & Johnston was a clockmaker and bell foundry based in Croydon, England from 1844 until 1957. Between 1844 and 1950, over 14,000 tower clocks were made at the works. The company's most successful and prominent period of activity as a bel ...

manufactured a new clock movement. The clock was fully restored in 2007 and 2008 by the Cumbria Clock Company in Dacre, Cumbria in time for the 500th anniversary of the accession of

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

. The clock features both on the cover and in the plot of Robert Galbraith’s '' Troubled Blood''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton Court Astronomical Clock Astronomical clocks in the United Kingdom Hampton Court Palace Individual clocks in England 1540 establishments in England Material culture of royal courts

History and description

See also

References

External links