Liberty Clock, Tudor revival clock at Liberty department store in London, UK
The Liberty Clock is a clock at Kingly Street in central London, housed within the three-storey archway entrance of the department store. It features a deep blue circular face with gold bands, Roman numerals, and decorative stone bird sculptures framing its design.
The mechanism was completed in 1925 as part of the Liberty department store's northern entrance, designed by Edwin T. Hall and his son. This mechanical construction emerged during an era when such clocks served as defining features of shopfront architecture.
The clock displays stone reliefs showing a rooster for dawn and an owl for night, while four winged heads represent the cardinal winds. These sculptural details transform it into a visual storyteller of the day's passage rather than just a timekeeper.
The clock sits on a busy pedestrian thoroughfare and is easy to spot while walking past. Best viewed during daylight hours to observe the stone details and the automated Saint George scene that appears every quarter hour.
Beneath the clock runs an inscription reading 'No minute gone comes ever back again; take heed and see ye nothing do in vain.' This motivational message was typical of the philosophy embedded in early department store facades.
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