Click here to find out more information about Big Ben on the official Parliament site.

Architectural Clocks

The Famous Dent clock at St. Pancras station.

As part of the £800,000,000 reparation and development of the new Eurostar terminal at St. Pancras station in London, Dent & Co were commissioned by LCR to replace the original station platform clock with an exact likeness of the original after it was destroyed during building works in the 1970s.

We took castings of some of the remnants of the original mouldings of the decorative chapter ring, hand-restored the castings back to new condition and then hand-poured new mouldings in aluminium. These were then fixed to the dial, also made in aluminium, welded and then polished until smooth and even. The hour and minute markers were cut from English slate, and English 23.5 carat gold leaf was used to finish the numerals of the minutes, hours, hands and relief banding. The paint was matched to the original, apart from the dial white, of which a specific improved white was specified by the project architect Alistair Lansley.

The clock mechanism is controlled by GPS signal and is checked every minute.

The Great Wheel Clock

This clock was presented by Dent & Co to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to commemorate the opening of St. Pancras Station. Her Majesty commented that the clock was "magnificent".

Dent & Co chose to make a Great Wheel Skeleton clock, because we felt we could display the unique St. Pancras Clock dial to great effect and we could turn the brass support work to readily echo ironwork of the glass roof structure which so typifies St. Pancras. The dial is made from mother of pearl with jet hour and minute markers. The hands and chapter ring furling are in 18 carat gold, and the base is made with the same slate as we used in the Station Platform clock.

Great Wheel Clocks appeared at the end of the 18th Century and though they appear deceptively simple, they are extremely refined and elegant, with high levels of craftsmanship, high tooth counts and graceful crossings. The Great Wheel has 288 teeth and makes only one revolution daily. This drives the centre wheel with a diameter slightly larger than the bezel, thus when viewed from the front it frames the dial. The escapement is a 'Graham Deadbeat' controlled by a 'silk' suspension pendulum and it has an eight day power reserve.

We continue to make some of the finest clocks in the world

We make large architectural clocks that follow in the tradition of our most famous creation, the clock at the Houses of Parliament; familiarly known as Big Ben. Our most recently commissioned large clock is the new station platform clock at St. Pancras station in London. At 18 feet in diameter it is only four feet smaller than the dial of Big Ben, and at the time of manufacture is the largest clock currently under construction in Europe.

We also accept commissions for feature clocks and most recently we have been commissioned to produce a double sided pillar clock for the new Cunard Liner, the Queen Victoria. We have also been commissioned to make mantelpiece clocks of all types for our international clients, many of which adorn the most famous households in the world. To enquire about commissioning a clock, email commissions@dentclocks.com