Sussex Tompion The Sussex Tompion is a true expression of the engineering genius of its maker. Dr John C. Taylor, OBE FREng, horologist, inventor and creator of Clocktime [1] The Sussex Tompion Table Clock was made by Thomas Tompion around 1680, just a few years after he had completed what was probably his first clock, the elegant Olivewood Tompion Table Clock, which is also exhibited on Clocktime. The Olivewood Tompion was made around 1673, when Tompion was first starting out. At that stage in his career, he did not have much capital and had to take a pragmatic approach to making, even resorting to salvaging for some of the parts of the Olivewood Tompion’s movement. Once complete, the Olivewood Tompion, with its clean, new design, was like nothing else on the market, and its production established Tompion as a serious clockmaker. After its making, his business quickly expanded. With the making of the Sussex Tompion just a few years later, Tompion was able to take bold chances, regardless of cost.[2] The result is a highly complex clock in which grande sonnerie and repeat-striking technologies work in harmony with one another within a single mechanism. At the time, this was a masterful feat of horological engineering. By way of comparison, Tompion’s clockmaker contemporaries tended to produce either grande sonnerie striking or quarter-repeating mechanisms – never both, as in Tompion’s clock. This is why Dr Taylor asserts that the mechanism of the Sussex Tompion is one of the most complex and difficult to understand of early British clocks (those produced during the later 1600s, a time often referred to as the ‘golden age of British clockmaking’). In addition to being one of the earliest repeating clocks, the Sussex Tompion is also one of only five two-train clocks known to have been made by Tompion and with grande sonnerie striking mechanisms.[3] Repeating himself at night Before the 1670s, when repeat technology was achieved, telling the time at night was a tedious process. It was also fraught with danger and not very conducive to a good night’s sleep. As Dr Taylor explains in the accompanying video. You had to find your tinder box in the dark, find your steel, find your flint, find your taper, find your candle, and then strike in the dark, a spark onto the timber, blow it up, light your taper, light the candle and come see what the time was. The only other option was to use a night clock. Night clocks were first developed in the 1650s. These were clocks that were fitted with an interior candle or an oil lamp, which was placed inside the case to illuminate the face of the clock at night. For an example of a night clock see the Monumental Architectural Night Clock, made around 1667 by John Fromanteel (exhibited on Clocktime). As might be expected, this was an extreme fire hazard. Repeat technology was invented so that people could tell the time at night safely. A repeating clock functioned as a regular clock during the daylight hours. Then, at night, it could be carried up to the bedroom, where it could signal the time in the dark by sounding out the hours on demand. This meant that the possibility of the owner’s house being burnt down was greatly reduced! Repeat striking was facilitated by the inclusion of two key features: a pendulum lock and a repeat mechanism, both of which Tompion expertly incorporated into the Sussex Tompion Table Clock. Tompion engineered his repeat mechanism in the Sussex Tompion to be driven by the drive spring and strike train (which also drives the automatic grande sonnerie striking). He also designed the repeat quarter striking to be governed by a kidney-shaped cam on the backplate (see the accompanying video, in which Dr Taylor reveals this cam and demonstrates how it works) and the repeat hour striking to be governed by a rack-and-snail striking mechanism. In Tompion’s time, rack-and-snail striking was a brand new technology that regulated the distance that the rack is allowed to fall, thereby regulating the number of times the bell is struck. This complex mechanism was activated on demand by pulling one of the two pull-repeat cords located conveniently on either side of the clock. Therefore, to find out the time in the dead of night, all you had to do was to reach out and pull the cord. The other feature that made all this possible was Tompion’s cleverly conceived pendulum lock.[4] A pendulum lock is a locking mechanism that stops the pendulum from swinging and then holds it in place. This was needed because pendulums were notoriously sensitive to movement. If moved while in full swing, the integrity of the pendulum could easily be compromised, and this would, in turn, degrade the accuracy of the clock. Tompion’s locking mechanism made it possible for the clock’s owner to move it safely from room to room. Typically, pendulum locks were accessed on the backplate of the clock, where they were set or released manually. However, Tompion was wary of allowing access to the Sussex Tompion’s movement (the reasons for this are discussed below). To avoid this possibility, he devised a brilliant way to meet the challenge of accessing the pendulum lock from the front of the Sussex Tompion. He did this by attaching two internal forks to the dial plate, specifically to the bottom two lower-quadrant dials. When the lock is engaged, the forks catch the moving pendulum bob just above its equator and lock it into place. To safely carry the Sussex Tompion, all the owner had to do was open the front door, place the winding key onto either of the bottom-quadrant dials and slowly wind the quadrant dial. While this was being done, the pendulum could be heard slowing to a stop. Once the pendulum had stopped moving, the front door would be closed and the clock carefully carried upstairs to a bedroom. (Tompion even thoughtfully added a beautiful gilt thistle bud handle to the top of the Sussex Tompion’s case, for ease of carrying.) Once the clock was in its desired location, the lower-quadrant dials could be adjusted to release the pendulum and return it safely to its swing. The Sussex Tompion’s pendulum lock is so secure that the weight of the pendulum does not buckle even if the clock is turned upside down.[5] To ensure a good night’s sleep, the owner could then turn off the Sussex Tompion’s automatic grande sonnerie striking (which sounded the hour and the quarters) by adjusting the ‘strike-or-silent’ setting to ‘silent’ for the night. The strike-or-silent setting could also be accessed through the front of the clock; it is in the upper-right-quadrant dial. An owner who woke at any point in the night could simply pull the repeat cord to hear the time sounded out. When the repeat cord is pulled, the grande sonnerie striking method sounds out the time by indicating the quarter hour on three high bells: ting for the first quarter/15 minutes, ting tang for the half hour/30 minutes, and ting tang tong for the third quarter/45 minutes. No sounding of the high bells would indicate on the hour. The quarter striking is then followed by the hour striking, which is counted out on the low bell. With the widespread introduction of repeating clocks from the late 1670s, night clocks quickly became redundant.[6] In his article ‘Thomas Tompion’s spring clock innovations’, Dr Taylor explains that if the owner pulled the repeat cord even a second past the quarter, the correct previous quarter would sound.[7] Tompion designed this in such a way that the correct quarter would sound right up to the very minute before the next quarter. Tompion also ensured that the repeating mechanism worked in harmony with the automatic grande sonnerie striking mechanism. Thus, Tompion’s design ensured that the clock always struck correctly and repeated the correct quarter and hour upon demand. The fact that Tompion was able to preclude potential errors and ensure that both mechanisms worked correctly is remarkable. No access: Securing his technology Ever the astute businessman, Tompion was keen to protect his designs and did not want his competitors studying his clocks’ movements. He also presumably disliked the idea of others interfering with or repairing his mechanisms. Therefore, he often made it difficult to access the movements of his timekeepers. For instance, in 1675, the Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, was asked to test the accuracy of a watch made by Tompion. He found it kept time to a minute a day but complained that the latches had been filed off so he could not inspect the mechanism. The Sussex Tompion is the first known clock to which Tompion applied his security measures – features that prohibited access to the timekeeper’s movement. There is no door on the sides or back of the Sussex Tompion, and the underside of the clock has a big brass plate screwed into the body of the case with four fixing screws – it takes a lot of work to remove it. What exactly was Tompion protecting in the Sussex Tompion? In this case, it is likely to have been the design that enabled the harmonious cofunctioning of the repeat and grande sonnerie mechanisms, as well as his refinements of the technologies that made them individually possible. Tompion’s instinct to protect his designs was purely down to business: he wanted to be as competitive as possible by (i) delivering a unique product and (ii) producing a product that was more accurate than those of his competitors. Even so, it is important to acknowledge the role that collaboration played in the development of early clockmaking. What is more, horological knowledge did not come out of nowhere, and it was not siloed. In many instances, horological developments were achieved through the organic exchange of ideas between colleagues who had expertise in different disciplines. In this way, ambitious makers routinely innovated to build upon and refine each other’s designs. For instance, according to the diaries of polymath and Royal Society member Robert Hooke, he and Tompion met regularly during the time of the Sussex Tompion’s making.[8] The pair also famously collaborated on the invention of the hairspring regulator in the watch in 1675. Although it is unclear if Hooke was involved in the design of the highly complex Sussex Tompion, it is certainly possible that, perhaps over one of the many dinners that the pair shared, Tompion would have discussed this new repeat-striking method with Hooke. Additionally, the rack-and-snail striking design that Tompion used for the Sussex Tompion was an iteration of a design widely credited to the Reverand Edward Barlow, the natural scientist and mechanician. Rack-striking made the repeating clock possible, and the design became the standard mechanism used in striking clocks going forward, right through to the present day. There is a case to be made for the collaborative development of rack-and-snail striking. Documentary sources indicate that Barlow and Tompion were collaborators,[9] and the two were part of a group of makers who knew one another professionally and followed each other’s work. In addition to Tompion and Barlow, this group included Hooke and the clockmakers Daniel Quare and Joseph Knibb. Although it is likely that Barlow invented the snail that made repeat striking possible, it is unclear if he alone conceptualised the way in which a designer achieves the striking. Thus, the rack-and-snail striking mechanism that Tompion refined for the Sussex Tompion is probably based on a design that originally came out of ‘an amalgam of ideas by Tompion, Barlow, Knibb and Hooke’.[10] Even so, Tompion was resolutely protective of his designs, and it is likely that he introduced his security measures with the Sussex Tompion. As mentioned above, all the Sussex Tompion’s settings and controls are on its dial, and its movement is protected behind a solid, screwed-on bottom plate (which also serves as the base of the case). This was both convenient for the user and served a pragmatic function for Tompion, as it prevented competitors from learning how his two-train mechanism worked. In his subsequent work, Tompion continued to prevent access to the movements in his products as a matter of practice. To get an up-close view of the Sussex Tompion’s snail wheel, its suspension arm for the pendulum, and the flirt mechanism (the main component enabling the grande sonnerie striking), watch the video that accompanies this exhibit. In it, Dr Taylor takes the Sussex Tompion’s movement out of its case to reveal ‘the wonders that Tompion crammed into’ his clock. Time flies in a vanitas It is widely believed that the Sussex Tompion Table Clock is depicted in a Vanitas painting entitled Still Life with Musical Instruments, a Globe and Other Objects, by R. Arnold. Vanitas is a genre of artwork, specifically a still life artwork, which includes various symbolic objects chosen to remind the viewer of the fleeting nature of life and the worthlessness of worldly goods. This allegorical style of painting was developed in Europe during the 1500s and flourished in Dutch painting in the Netherlands during the 1600s. Arnold’s vanitas was painted around 1682, perhaps just after the Sussex Tompion had been made. The belief that the clock in the painting is the Sussex Tompion is based mainly on the asymmetrical depiction of the clock’s cast gilt sound fret between the XII and the rising-top hood. The way the painted clock’s fret is just slightly off the centre line going through the XII on the dial is very similar to the asymmetrical placement of the gilt sound fret on the Sussex Tompion. The depiction of the rising-top hood, handle, gilt escutcheons, and inset gilt side panels are also similar to the corresponding features on the Sussex Tompion. However, there are striking differences between the Sussex Tompion and the clock in the painting. The latter is missing the Sussex Tompion’s four quadrant dials. Instead, it has spandrels where the quadrant dials should be. The painted clock is also missing the Sussex Tompion’s mock pendulum, winding holes, pull-repeat cords, and gilt foliate basket top. Rather, the clock in the painting has a gilt mount affixed to its ebony hood instead of the Sussex Tompion’s gilt foliate basket. It also has ball feet, whereas the Sussex Tompion has block feet. One explanation for the discrepancies is that the clock depicted in the painting is not the Sussex Tompion but another Tompion clock made around the same time as it. Another explanation, which would account for the notable presence of the Sussex Tompion’s asymmetrical fret but the absence of its other features, is that the clock in Arnold’s painting is a symbolic representation of a Tompion-type clock, rather than a depiction of a specific Tompion clock. He may have chosen to use a Tompion-type clock for his allegorical painting because its representation was recognisable and easily deciphered. For instance, Tompion table clocks were visually distinct with their elegant Puritan cases and gilt mounts. Also, at the time, Tompion clocks were some of the most cutting-edge, expensive luxury timekeepers on the market. Therefore, Arnold’s inclusion of a Tompion-type clock served a dual purpose: to remind viewers of the inexorable passage of time, and to invite them to reflect on the folly of excessive attachment to material things. See Arnold’s vanitas Still Life with Musical Instruments, a Globe and Other Objects, circa 1682 in the media bar below. The Sussex pedigree The Sussex Tompion takes its name from the first recorded reference to it. In 1843, it was listed as part of the auction of the estate of HRH Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (b. 1773, d. 1843). He was the sixth son and ninth child of King George III and Queen Charlotte. Apparently, the Duke had this clock throughout his life. There is even an old cigarette card featuring the Duke’s portrait affixed to the back of the clock’s case. It is not known who placed it on the clock’s case, or when, but it appears to have been there for quite some time. The clock came into the Duke’s possession through his father’s royal clockmaker, Benjamin Lewis Vuillamy (b. 25 January 1780, d. 8 January 1854).[11] There is no record of how the clock came into Vuillamy’s possession or who owned it prior to this. After the Duke of Sussex’s death in 1843, the Sussex Tompion was sold through Christie’s Auction House on 4 July 1844 for £12 10s 0d. It then changed hands again, eventually being acquired by Sir John Prestige (b. 1884, d. 1962), a businessman and politician. Following Prestige’s death, the clock came into the possession of W. Pinder, and hence to his son, R. H. Pinder. Upon the younger Pinder’s death, his executors sold the clock for £65,000, through Christie’s on 7 February 1979, to the renowned horologist and collector George Daniels. The Sussex Tompion remained in the George Daniels clock and watch collection in Ramsay on the Isle of Man for some time. It was a favourite of his, due to its technical excellence and complexity. Eventually, it became part of the private collection of horologist Richard Garnier, who looked after it until it made its way back to the Isle of Man, becoming part of the Dr John C Taylor Collection. This is its current home. The Sussex Tompion Table Clock is clearly the creation of a maker coming into his own, on the precipice of what would be a stellar and pioneering career. In fact, shortly after this clock was made, from the early 1680s, Tompion starting using serial numbers to track his output.[12] He was the first manufacturer of any kind to serialise his product. Thus, the Sussex Tompion appears to perfectly encapsulate the energy, vision, boldness and business sense of Thomas Tompion, its (then) newly minted maker, in every way. Dr Kristin Leith, Senior Curator of Clocktime May 2025 End Notes [1] All quotes from Dr John C Taylor OBE were personally communicated to the author unless otherwise referenced. [2] Anonymous 14 November 2013; Darken 2003, 156–161; Dawson 1959; Ende et al. 2004, 160–163; Garnier and Hollis 2018, 328–330; Symonds 1939; Taylor 2004, 154, 157–158 and 172; Taylor et al. 2020, 17. [3] Anonymous 14 November 2013. [4] The earliest known example of a pendulum lock design is seen in Ahasuerus Fromanteel’s Architectural Table clock made around 1662 (coming soon to Clocktime). Following this, they became a standard feature of portable table clocks. See Dawson 1959, 191–195; Dawson et al. 1994 [1982], 95–98 and 144–147; Darken 2003, 48–51; Ende et al. 2004, 74–75. [5] Tompion’s pendulum lock design for the Sussex Tompion Table Clock expanded upon Ahasuerus Fromanteel’s pendulum lock design. See no. 4. [6] Carter 2021, 48. [7] Taylor 2004. [8] It appears that Tompion met Robert Hooke at the Royal Society as early as 1674. Despite Hooke’s well-known irascibility, the two men got on well and spent much time together. Based on mentions in Hooke’s detailed diaries, they met regularly to discuss the engineering of watches and work on projects. [9] Taylor 2004. [10] Robey 2005 and 2011. [11] Garnier and Hollis 2018, 329, Exhibition Catalogue No. 97, note that the Sussex Tompion was not ‘definitively identifiable in the catalogue for the Christies sale on 4 July 1844’. For an introduction to Vuillamy see Cantor 18 March 2025. [12] Evans et al. 2013; Symonds 1951; Taylor et al. 2019, 5. Tompion’s serial numbers are engraved and punch-numbered on his products, typically on the dials and backplates of his timekeepers. References Anonymous. 14 November 2013. ‘Majestic Time: An exhibition of the clocks of Thomas Tompion’ in Hodinkee. https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/majestic-time-an-exhibition-of-the-clocks-of-thomas-tompion Cantor, A. 28 March 2025. ‘The Greatest horologists you’ve never heard of: Benjamin Lewis Vuillamy – A champion of British Craftmanship’ in https://www.mrwatchmaster.com/the-greatest-horologists-youve-never-heard-of-benjamin-lewis-vulliamy-a-champion-of-british-craftsmanship/ Carter, J. 2021. The John C Taylor Collection: Part I (Selling Exhibition Catalogue, Carter Marsh & Co). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Darken, J. (editor). 2003. Horological Masterworks: English 17th century clocks from private collections. London: Antiquarian Horological Society. Dawson, P. G. 1959. ‘An early Fromanteel spring-clock’ in Antique Collector Magazine, 191–195. Dawson, P. G., C. B. Drover and D. W. Parkes. 1994 [1982]. Early English Clocks: A discussion of domestic clocks up to the beginning of the eighteenth century. Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors’ Club. Ende, H. van der, J. C. Taylor and F. Van Kersen. 2004. Huygens’ Legacy: The golden age of the pendulum clock (Exhibition Catalogue). Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Evans, J., J. Carter and B. Wright. 2013. Thomas Tompion – 300 Years: A celebration of the life and work of Thomas Tompion. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Walter Lane Publishing. Garnier, R. and L. Hollis. 2018. Innovation & Collaboration: The early development of the pendulum clock in London. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Robey, J. 2005. ‘Who invented rack-and-snail striking? The early development of repeating and rack striking’ in Antiquarian Horology (March), 1–18. Robey, J. A. 2011. ‘The truth about Edward Barlow’ in Clocks Magazine February. Symonds, R. W. May 1939. ‘A historic Tompion Clock’, in Connoisseur Magazine. Symonds, R. W. 1951. Thomas Tompion: His life and work 1639–1713. London: B.T. Battsford Ltd. Taylor, J. C. 2004. ‘Thomas Tompion’s spring clock innovations’ in Antiquarian Horology 28/2: 153–172. Taylor, J. C. and K. Leith (with contributions by T. Phillipson). 2019. The Luxury of Time: Clocks from 1550–1750. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Taylor, J. C. and K. Leith (with contributions from T. Phillipson and K. Neate). 2020. The Luxury of Time: Clocks from 1500–1800. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd.
