Electrical horology collection

The Clockworks is a lively hub dedicated to the study of electrical and precision horology, distributed and standardised time. It encompasses a museum, library, archive, conservation workshop and event space.

The heart of The Clockworks is the world-class collection of electrical clocks, timekeepers and associated technologies assembled over 30 years by the historian James Nye.

From the pioneering electrical clock designed in the 1840s by the Scottish inventor Alexander Bain, to the world’s most precise pendulum regulator, made behind the Iron Curtain by Feodosii Fedchenko, this is the most important and representative publicly accessible collection of electrical clocks anywhere in the world.

Workshop

In addition to displaying this collection in an onsite museum, The Clockworks is also a centre for practical electrical horology, and a major training ground for specialist horology conservators. We have a Conservator-in-Residence who works from a fully equipped onsite workshop, enabling us to support and help develop electro-technical conservators – an area where we have identified a significant national and international skills gap.