Time goes electric
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.
What’s on
This half term, join our curator and clockmaker-in-residence for a hands-on workshop exploring the power of electricity and magnetism.
In this interactive STEM-focused session, we’ll be powering clocks from a pumpkin, making electric trains and motors, and exploring how electricity and magnetism can be applied to clockmaking, using the world-class collection of clocks and timekeepers at The Clockworks.
Free to book. Recommended for ages 7-11.
