Tom Tower
Tom Tower is a
In 1732–34, when William Kent was called upon to make sympathetic reconstruction of the east range of Clock Court in Wolsey's Tudor Hampton Court Palace, he naturally turned to the precedent of Tom Tower for his "central ogee dome with its coronet of pilaster-like gothick finials".[5] The tower of Dunster House at Harvard University is a direct imitation of Tom Tower, though its details have been Georgianised, and stones from Christ Church are installed in one of the house's main entryways.
Tom Tower was the inspiration for the Clock Tower (formally the Old Arts Building) at the University of Auckland.[6]
Great Tom
Great Tom, housed in the tower, is the loudest bell in Oxford. It weighs six and a quarter tons
In 1678–79, Richard Keene of
"Great Thomas the door closer of Oxford renovated April 8, 1680 in the reign of Charles II. Deacon John, the Bishop of Oxford and sub-Deacon give thanks to the knowledge of Henry Smith and the care and workmanship of Christopher Hodson".
Great Tom is still sounded 101 times every night, which signifies the 100 original scholars of the college plus one (added in 1663). It is rung at 21:05 current UK time, which corresponds to 21:00 in what used to be "Oxford time" (local mean time for Oxford, noon in Oxford always occurring five minutes later than noon in Greenwich),[9] and was at one time the signal for all the Oxford colleges to lock their gates. The bell is only rung by swinging on very special occasions. The bell is the subject of a number of Oxfordshire Morris tunes and rounds, including "Old Tom of Oxford" (from Bampton), and the rounds "Great Tom Is Cast" and "Bonny Christ Church Bells", which were composed by the Dean of Christ Church, Henry Aldrich (1647–1710). However, "Great Tom Is Cast" is also credited to Matthew White as having been written in 1667. The two versions are identical except for two notes. Considering the dates, it is likely that White is the real author of the piece.[citation needed]
See also
- Magdalen Tower, Oxford
- Oxford Society of Change Ringers
Notes
- Clarendon Press) 1928:17.
- ^ Some other work by Wren, Sir Nicholas Hawksmoor and William Dickinson in the Office of Works is discussed in Giles Worsley, "The Origins of the Gothic Revival: A Reappraisal: The Alexander Prize Essay"Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th Series, 3 (1993), pp. 105–150.
- ^ Other Gothic work by Wren includes restorations in Westminster Abbey.
- ^ Seven letters of Wren to John Fell, Bishop of Oxford, and other documents were published in Wren Society 5 (1928).
- ^ Juliet Allan, "New Light on William Kent at Hampton Court Palace" Architectural History, 27 (1984, pp. 50–58), p. 52. Kent's alterations, his first attempt at Gothick, quickly became dated as the Gothic Revival progressed, and were revised in a correcter taste.
- ^ "Auckland University Clock Tower". Retrieved 19 May 2019.
- ^ "Great Bells of the British Isles". Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ^ Frederick Sharpe, The Church Bells of Oxfordshire (Oxfordshire Records Society, 4 vols, Oxford, 1949–53)
- ISBN 1-871004-02-0.
References
- Jennifer Sherwood and ISBN 0-14-071045-0.
- Wren Society vol 5: "Designs of Sir Christopher Wren for Oxford, Cambridge..." (1928).
External links
- Media related to Tom Tower, Christ Church, Oxford at Wikimedia Commons
- Images of Tom Tower
- W. H. Auden (1907–1973) Under Tom Tower by Richard Ellmann* Great Tom bell
- History of legal time in Britain by Joseph Myers