St Dunstan-in-the-West Clock

The St Dunstan-in-the-West clock on Fleet Street in London was created in 1671 as the city's first public clock to feature a minute hand. Crafted by clockmaker Thomas Harris, the double-sided timepiece features two giant automata that strike bells on the hour. Sold to Regent's Park in the 1830s, Lord Rothermere restored the clock to Fleet Street in 1935 to celebrate King George V's Silver Jubilee.

London Β· from the walk β€œSecret London: Hidden Alleys, Ancient Stones & Forgotten Stories” Β· audio ~4 min Β· Generated

St Dunstan-in-the-West, Fleet Street, London EC4A 2HR

What makes the St Dunstan-in-the-West clock on Fleet Street historically famous?

Look up above the traffic of Fleet Street... and you'll spot something extraordinary. A huge clock jutting out from the church facade, easy to walk past if you don't know it's there. But this is no ordinary timepiece. This clock dates from sixteen seventy-one, and it was the First public clock in London to have a minute hand. Think about that... before this clock, Londoners only knew the hour. Minutes simply didn't exist on the street.......... Now look closely at those two golden figures flanking the bells. In an alcove behind the clock stand two giants holding clubs, dressed in gilded animal skins. They're automata β€” their heads turn and their arms move, striking the bells on the hours and quarters with their clubs. Some say they represent Gog and Magog, the mythical guardian giants of London. And here's a detail most people miss β€” the clock sticks out from the front of the church and features faces on Both sides, so travelers could read the time whether they were heading toward the City or toward Westminster.......... But how did this clock survive three and a half centuries? Well... it almost didn't. The clock was crafted by clockmaker Thomas Harris and was commissioned to celebrate the church's survival during the Great Fire of London. That survival itself is a remarkable story. The Dean of Westminster roused Forty scholars from Westminster School in the middle of the night, who extinguished the flames with buckets of water. The fire came within three doors of the church!......... Then came a second crisis. When the church was rebuilt in the eighteen thirties, the clock was removed and, to universal outrage, sold to Viscount Hertford, who carried it off to his mansion in Regent's Park. For over a Century, the giants of St Dunstan's were in exile. It wasn't until nineteen thirty-five that Lord Rothermere returned the clock to mark the Silver Jubilee of King George the Fifth.......... And one more thing... when the clock was first installed, this area became notorious for pickpockets who went to work on unsuspecting passersby who had stopped to watch the giants strike. So the very First public attraction on Fleet Street was also London's first pickpocket hotspot!......... Even Charles Dickens couldn't resist this clock. In David Copperfield, David and his aunt Betsy Trotwood make a special trip to see the giants Gog and Magog strike the bells. And the poet John Donne β€” he was the rector at St Dunstan's from sixteen twenty-four to sixteen thirty-one, while also serving as Dean of St Paul's Cathedral. So next time you hear those bells chime... remember, these giants have been keeping London's time for over three hundred and fifty years.

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