Royal Clock
Encyclopedia
The "Royal Clock" is located on the upper level of the southern half of the Queen Victoria Building
in Sydney, Australia. It was designed by Neil Glasser and made by Thwaites & Reed
of Hastings in England, and displays scenes of English royalty.
of English royal history, before dimming and rotating to the left in preparation for the next scene. Some of the scenes include mechanical animation (e.g. the beheading of King Charles I). The performance ends with the withdrawal of the trumpeters as the music concludes.
Queen Victoria Building
The Queen Victoria Building, or QVB, is a late nineteenth century building by the architect George McRae in the central business district of Sydney, Australia. The Romanesque Revival building is 30 metres wide by 190 metres long, and fills a city block, bounded by George, Market, York and Druitt...
in Sydney, Australia. It was designed by Neil Glasser and made by Thwaites & Reed
Thwaites & Reed
Thwaites & Reed has been in continuous manufacture since its foundation and claims to be the oldest clock manufacturing company in the world. Geoffrey Buggins MBE, the last of the original family clockmakers saw drawings of Thwaites clocks dating back to 1610...
of Hastings in England, and displays scenes of English royalty.
Performance
The clock activates on the hour from 9 am until 9 pm. Each performance begins with the music of the trumpet voluntary as miniature trumpeters emerge from the tops of each of the clock's four outer turrets. The six scenes are viewed (one at a time) through windows on both sides of the clock that face the railed walkways. Each scene briefly illuminates to display a dioramaDiorama
The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
of English royal history, before dimming and rotating to the left in preparation for the next scene. Some of the scenes include mechanical animation (e.g. the beheading of King Charles I). The performance ends with the withdrawal of the trumpeters as the music concludes.
Music
The Royal Clock is accompanied by music written by Jeremiah Clarke called The Prince of Denmark's March (commonly known as the Trumpet Voluntary).Scenes
The six scenes in chronological order are:- King Cnut commanding the tide to halt.
- King Harold dying on the field at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
- King John signing the Magna CartaMagna CartaMagna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
in 1215. Also present in the scene is Stephen Cardinal LangtonStephen LangtonStephen Langton was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1207 and his death in 1228 and was a central figure in the dispute between King John of England and Pope Innocent III, which ultimately led to the issuing of Magna Carta in 1215...
. - Henry VIIIHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and his six wives. - Queen Elizabeth I knighting Sir Francis Drake aboard the Golden Hind in 1588 (an apocryphal scene as the ceremony was performed by the ambassador from France—in the Queen's presence).
- The execution of King Charles I in 1649.