![]() At the foundation of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, a worthwhile journey for any horological enthusiast, Tompion was commissioned by King Charles II to create two clocks that would be extremely accurate, accurate enough to perform astronomical calculations. Born in Bedfordshire, England, Tompion was known for his extreme levels of craftsmanship, most of which was attributed to the French and Dutch protestants that worked for him during his time who were able to meet his demanding standards. Tompion is undoubtedly one of the founding fathers of horology as we know it. These pages wouldn’t be found again until they turned up in 2006 in the cupboard of a home in Hampshire of all places. When he learned of rival Christiaan Huygens releasing his own design of balance spring, for instance, he was furious and went through archives of meetings he’d had where he showed his work, ripping out the pages that proved he had invented the escapement. Hooke was described as a very intelligent and short-tempered man. The anchor is a reliable design that forces the escape wheel to turn in one direction only, regulated by a pendulum and thus providing accurate time. The anchor escapement is attributed to Hooke through writings from the early 18th century stating it was an “admirable invention of which Dr Hooke,, was the inventor,” according to Henry Sully. ![]() Most historical records indicate that Hooke was the inventor of both the anchor escapement found in clocks and the balance spring seen in mechanical pocket watches. He is probably more notable for his discovery of plant cells through a microscope and the nature of fossilisation than the invention we’re going to talk about. Like his Dutch rival, Christiaan Huygens, Hooke was interested in multiple fields of study including languages and the making of musical instruments, today we’d call him a polymath. Towneley’s system was clever but was reported to be quite unreliable, but still, it’s the first.īorn on the Isle of Wight in 1635, Robert Hooke was not just an influential horologist, but more of an all-round intelligent guy. This system would be commissioned by Towneley’s close friend Thomas Tompion, more of which follows below. This deadbeat system eliminated any backlash from the anchor escapement, which could cause timing inaccuracies. Towneley was also a horologist and is credited with the creation of the deadbeat mechanism, sometime around 1675, (though some attribute it to George Graham due to his use of it in his works from 1715). ![]() Apparently, Boyle himself preferred to call it “Mr Towneley’s hypothesis”. They realised that there was a relationship between air density and pressure, and the physician wrote a paper about it which attracted Robert Boyle’s attention, and he would go on to make the draft into a finalised piece that would result in the creation of Boyle’s Law. It is believed that Towneley and his family’s physician were both into their experiments, and used a barometer to measure the difference in pressure between sea level and the top of Pendle Hill in Lancashire. Towneley was most notable for his involvement in the creation of Boyle’s Law, which states that assuming the number of molecules and the temperature remains at a constant, there is an inverse relationship between the pressure and volume of a gas. As you’ll discover with most of the entries on our list, he was interested in multiple subjects that were becoming popular in the 17th century such as mathematics, philosophy and astronomy. Richard Towneley was born in Lancashire in 1629, which puts him first on our list. There have been eight people named Richard Towneley, we are not sure of a portrait of this one exists. One of the two year-going clocks made by Thomas Tompion, featuring Richard Towneley’s deadbeat seconds. There is no definitive winner here, nor are the following ranked in order of their contribution. To be clear, this is not one of our popular Top 5 articles extended to include ten entries. We’re guessing there may be a couple of names on this list that even you haven’t come across yet! Today, we’re going to look at ten of the most influential horologists to come from the British Isles. But, once upon a time, these guys looked to the United Kingdom and France as the leading lights in precise timekeeping, and although they are not the same dominators they once were, both countries are having a little bit of a horological resurgence. The horological powerhouses currently are Switzerland, Japan, China and Germany, all of which have several brands that dominate the world. The United Kingdom’s involvement in horology as we know it today is both profound and under-appreciated.
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