Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building. Some other buildings also have clock faces on their exterior but these structures serve other main functions.
38-700: The Rajabai Tower is a clock tower in Mumbai India. It is in the confines of the Fort campus of the University of Mumbai . It stands at a height of 85 m (280 ft or 25 storeys). The tower is part of The Victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai , which was added to the list of World Heritage Sites in 2018. The Rajabai Clock Tower was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott , an English architect. He modeled it on Big Ben in London. The foundation stone
76-463: A church or municipal building such as a town hall . Not all clocks on buildings therefore make the building into a clock tower. The mechanism inside the tower is known as a turret clock . It often marks the hour (and sometimes segments of an hour) by sounding large bells or chimes , sometimes playing simple musical phrases or tunes. Some clock towers were previously built as Bell towers and then had clocks added to them. As these structures fulfil
114-563: A city hall , town hall , civic centre (in the UK or Australia ), guildhall , or municipal building (in the Philippines ) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality . It usually houses the city or town council and at least some other arms of the local government. It also often functions as the office of the mayor (or other executive), if the relevant municipality has such an officer. In large cities,
152-407: A debating chamber for council meetings, office space for city employees, an archive room for official documents, and some degree of fortification lest the city be attacked. The Palazzo Senatorio has been the headquarters of the municipal government of Rome since 1144, making it the oldest city hall in the world. The Cologne City Hall of 1135 is another early example. The Palazzo Pubblico of
190-481: A mannequin , every hour. It was possible to re-program the length of day and night daily in order to account for the changing lengths of day and night throughout the year, and it also featured five robotic musicians who automatically play music when moved by levers operated by a hidden camshaft attached to a water wheel . Line (mains) synchronous tower clocks were introduced in the United States in
228-627: A clock added in 2002, has a roof height of 240 m (790 ft), and an antenna height of 272 m (892 ft). The Abraj Al Bait , a hotel complex in Mecca constructed in 2012, has the largest and highest clock face on a building in the world, with its Makkah Royal Clock Tower having an occupied height of 494.4 m (1,622 ft), and a tip height of 601 m (1,972 ft). The tower has four clock faces, two of which are 43 m (141 ft) in diameter, at about 400 m (1,300 ft) high. Town hall In local government ,
266-788: A clock was put up in a clock tower, the medieval precursor to Big Ben , at Westminster , in 1288; and in 1292 a clock was put up in Canterbury Cathedral . The oldest surviving turret clock formerly part of a clock tower in Europe is the Salisbury Cathedral clock , completed in 130. A clock put up at St. Albans , in 1326, 'showed various astronomical phenomena'. Al-Jazari of the Artuqid dynasty in Upper Mesopotamia constructed an elaborate clock called
304-422: A covered space to function as a marketplace at street level, and one or more rooms used for public or civic purposes above it. These buildings were frequently the precursors of dedicated town halls. The modern concept of the town hall developed with the rise of medieval communes . Much as a lord was based in his hall, the new councils which formed to rule the cities required a headquarters. This building needed
342-407: A regional strategic authority. The Oxford English Dictionary sums up the generic terms: County Council administrations in parts of England and Wales generally operate from a base in a building called, by analogy, a " county hall " or "shire hall". Conversely, cities that have subdivisions with their councils may have borough halls. Scottish local government in larger cities operates from
380-422: A square form up to the gallery at the top of the first level which is at a height of 68 feet (21 m) from the ground. The form changes from a square to an octagon and the height from this gallery to the top of the tower is 118 feet (36 m) and the third stage to the top of the finial is 94 feet (29 m), thus making a total height of 280 feet (85 m). During its time, it was the tallest structure in
418-630: Is a distinction between the Council House and the Town Hall , a concert and meeting venue that pre-dates it. In Sheffield , the distinction is between the Town Hall , the seat of local government, and the City Hall , a concert and ballroom venue. In Leeds , the Town Hall , built in the 1850s as a seat of local government, now functions primarily as a concert, conference, and wedding venue, many of its municipal functions having moved in 1933 to
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#1732779917155456-701: Is made between city halls and town halls. The term is also sometimes (but more rarely) used as a name in Commonwealth countries: for example, for the City Halls of Brisbane in Australia, and of Cardiff , Norwich and Bristol in the UK. City Hall in Dublin , Ireland, is another example. City Hall in London, opened in 2002, is an exceptional case, being the seat not of a conventional municipal authority, but of
494-528: Is one of the grandest examples of the medieval era, serving as a model for 19th-century town halls such as the Rathaus, Vienna . Over centuries, the idea of civic representation along with notions of urbanism and public space evolved. Even the building form grew in size and the town hall concept expanded beyond Europe to become an established institution across the world. As the functions of government generally and municipal government in particular expanded in
532-522: The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat a structure is defined as a building if at least fifty percent of its height is made up of floor plates containing habitable floor area. Structures that do not meet this criterion, are defined as towers . A clock tower historically fits this definition of a tower and therefore can be defined as any tower specifically built with one or more (often four) clock faces and that can be either freestanding or part of
570-786: The Parliament of Canada in Ottawa , and the Zytglogge clock tower in the Old City of Bern , Switzerland . The tallest freestanding clock tower in the world is the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower (Old Joe) at the University of Birmingham in Birmingham , United Kingdom. The tower stands at 100 metres (330 feet) tall and was completed in 1908. The clock tower of Philadelphia City Hall
608-680: The Republic of Siena and the Palazzo Vecchio of the Republic of Florence , both late-medieval town halls, date from 1297 and 1299 respectively. In each case, the large, fortified building comprises a large meeting hall and numerous administrative chambers. Both buildings are topped by tall towers, have ancient clocks against which townsfolk measured time, and have space for local archives of official documents. These features became standard for town halls across Europe. The 15th-century Brussels Town Hall , with its 96-meter (315 ft) tower,
646-404: The quality of life of the community. In many cases, "town halls" serve not only as buildings for government functions, but also have facilities for various civic and cultural activities. These may include art shows, stage performances, exhibits, and festivals. Modern town halls or "civic centres" are often designed with a great variety and flexibility of purpose in mind. In some European countries,
684-590: The "City Chambers". Other names are occasionally used. The administrative headquarters of the City of London retains its Anglo-Saxon name, the Guildhall , signifying a place where taxes were paid. In a few English cities (including Birmingham , Coventry and Nottingham ) the preferred term is "Council House": this was also true in Bristol until 2012, when the building was renamed " City Hall ". In Birmingham, there
722-437: The "castle clock" and described it in his Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices in 1206. It was about 3.3 metres (11 feet) high, and had multiple functions alongside timekeeping . It included a display of the zodiac and the solar and lunar paths, and a pointer in the shape of the crescent moon that travelled across the top of a gateway , moved by a hidden cart and causing automatic doors to open, each revealing
760-409: The "town hall" (and its later variant "city hall") became synonymous with the whole building, and, synecdochically , the municipal government headquartered there. The terms "council chambers", "municipal building" or variants may be used locally in preference to "town hall" if no such large hall is present within the building. The local government may endeavor to use the building to promote and enhance
798-988: The 1920s. Some clock towers have become famous landmarks. Prominent examples include Elizabeth Tower built in 1859, which houses the Great Bell (generally known as Big Ben ) in London , the tower of Philadelphia City Hall , the Rajabai Tower in Mumbai , the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin , the Torre dell'Orologio in the Piazza San Marco in Venice , Italy , the Peace Tower of
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#1732779917155836-431: The 19th and 20th centuries, the role of town and city halls became broader. Many cities established a reading room in their city hall, which later grew into a public library , typically in its own building. The central room in a town hall (the "hall" proper) began to be used for a variety of other functions; some cities installed a large pipe organ to facilitate public entertainment. In the 20th century, town halls served
874-812: The Library and the Rajabai Clock Tower received the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation. Clock tower Clock towers are a common sight in many parts of the world with some being iconic buildings. One example is the Elizabeth Tower in London (usually called " Big Ben ", although strictly this name belongs only to the bell inside the tower). There are many structures that may have clocks or clock faces attached to them and some structures have had clocks added to an existing structure. According to
912-641: The city of Mumbai. During the 19th century it played the tunes of " Home! Sweet Home! " and " A Handel Symphony ", out of a total of sixteen tunes, which changed four times a day. It currently chimes only one tune every 15 minutes. From October 2013 to 11 May 2015, the tower underwent restoration work under the observation of Anita Garware (Heritage Society), Rajan Welukar (Vice-Chancellor; University of Mumbai) and N Chandrasekar (CEO, Tata Consultancy Services). It reopened in March 2015 after renovation. The restoration efforts were recognised by UNESCO in 2018 when
950-416: The definition of a tower they can be considered to be clock towers. Although clock towers are today mostly admired for their aesthetics, they once served an important purpose. Before the middle of the twentieth century, most people did not have watches, and prior to the 18th century even home clocks were rare. The first clocks did not have faces, but were solely striking clocks , which sounded bells to call
988-436: The local government is often administratively expansive, and the city hall may bear more resemblance to a municipal capitol building. By convention, until the middle of the 19th century, a single large open chamber (or "hall") formed an integral part of the building housing the council and such other organs of government as supported it. The hall may be used for council meetings and other significant events. This large chamber,
1026-410: The locally available buff coloured Kurla stone. The tower has one of the best stained glass windows in the city. The ground floor has two side rooms, each measuring 56 ft × 27.5 ft (17.1 m × 8.4 m). The tower forms a carriage porch 2.4 m (26 sq ft), and a spiral staircase vestibule of 2.6 m (28 sq ft). The Tower, over the carriage porch, has
1064-443: The new Civic Hall . Large halls called basilicas were used in ancient Rome for the administration of justice, as meeting places, and for trade. The development of the town hall as a setting for local governance meetings and decisions is historically related to the early cities in medieval Europe. The objective was to have engagement with the citizens in a public space by a representative civic authority. The oldest town hall in
1102-427: The public as places for voting, examinations, vaccinations , disaster relief, and disseminating information through noticeboards, as well as for the more usual civil functions, festivities, and entertainments. Local councils have increasingly tended to move administrative functions into modern offices. Where new premises are designed and constructed to house local governments, the functions of an administrative office and
1140-477: The surrounding community to work or to prayer. They were therefore placed in towers so the bells would be audible for a long distance. Clock towers were placed near the centres of towns and were often the tallest structures there. As clock towers became more common, the designers realized that a dial on the outside of the tower would allow the townspeople to read the time whenever they wanted. The use of clock towers dates back to antiquity . The earliest clock tower
1178-530: The term "town hall" may be used even in a city. This is often the case in the United Kingdom (examples being Manchester Town Hall and Liverpool Town Hall ), Australia ( Sydney Town Hall ), New Zealand , and elsewhere. People in some regions use the term "city hall" to designate the council offices of a municipality of city status . This is the case in North America , where a distinction
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1216-417: The time it would be occupied by routine administrative and judicial functions. In a smaller manor, a lord might even live in the hall with his family and retainers. Inasmuch as the manor was the primary local jurisdiction of medieval society, the hall was a place of great local importance. In the later Middle Ages or early modern period , many European market towns erected communal market halls , comprising
1254-700: The town hall is the venue for the declaration of Christmas Peace , such as Turku and Porvoo in Finland and Tartu in Estonia . As symbols of local government, city, and town halls have distinctive architecture, and the buildings may have great historical significance – for example the Guildhall, London . City hall buildings may also serve as cultural icons that symbolize their cities. City Hall buildings often serve citizens in accessing government functions as well as providing vital symbolic roles for their communities. In Commonwealth countries ,
1292-567: The world is Palazzo Senatorio in Rome , Italy, which is established in AD 1144. In the Early Middle Ages , the great hall , a single large open chamber, was the main, and sometimes only room of the home of a feudal lord . A great variety of activities took place in the hall, which was an all-purpose space. The lord would host banquets and other grand ceremonies in the hall, but most of
1330-399: Was blind and as a staunch follower of Jain religion, she was supposed to consume her dinner before the evening. Legend says that the evening bell of the tower helped her to know the time without anyone's help. The tower was closed to the public after it became a frequent spot for those attempting suicide. The tower was built in a fusion of Venetian and Gothic styles. It is built out of
1368-537: Was laid on 1 March 1869 and construction was completed in November 1878. The total cost of construction came to ₹550,000, a large amount of money for the time period. A portion of the total cost of construction was donated by Premchand Roychand Jain , a wealthy broker who founded the Bombay Stock Exchange on the condition that the tower be named after his mother Rajabai. Premchand Roychand 's mother
1406-620: Was part of the tallest building in the world from 1894, when the tower was topped out and the building partially occupied, until 1908. Taller buildings have had clock faces added to their existing structure such as the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw , with a clock added in 2000. The building has a roof height of 187.68 m (615.7 ft), and an antenna height of 237 m (778 ft). The NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building in Tokyo , with
1444-649: Was the Tower of the Winds in Athens , which featured eight sundials and was created in the 1st century BC during the period of Roman Greece . In its interior, there was also a water clock (or clepsydra), driven by water coming down from the Acropolis . In Song dynasty China , an astronomical clock tower was designed by Su Song and erected at Kaifeng in 1088, featuring a liquid escapement mechanism. In England,
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