Learn About Clock Chimes

As an additional way of telling time to simply reading the face, most modern mechanical and quartz (battery) clocks produce sounds to announce the time. Some clocks chime on the quarter hours, some just on the hour and half-hour. Most that do chime also strike the number of hours after chiming on each passing hour. The melodious sounds of your chiming clock will add warmth to your daylight hours and comfort through the hours of darkness.

The most common chime is known as Westminster Chimes, a chime that like most others, was adapted from a famous clock tower in Europe. The chimes build by playing one fourth of the melody at 15 minutes past, one half the melody at half-past, three quarters of the chime at quarter-til, and the entire melody on each hour. As each mechanical clock is made of different woods and sizes, the sounds sound similar but slightly different from each other.

HISTORY OF THE CHIMES

WESTMINSTER CHIMES:

The world's most famous chimes are Westminster. Nearly everyone associates the Westminster chimes with the Victoria Clock Tower of the House of Parliament in London. The clock itself, is often referred to as "Big Ben.' The melody, however, originally was fitted to the clock of the University Church, St. Mary's the Great, in Cambridge, England. It comes from a composition by Handel, and is found in the fifth bar of the magnificent symphony, "I Know that My Redeemer Liveth." The chimes are believed to be saying this simple but beautiful prayer:

Lord through this hour
Be Thou our guide
So, by Thy power
No foot shall slide.

Listen to Westminster Chimes:

Floor Clock (Rods) • Floor Clock (Tubular Bells) • Mantel • Big Ben • Quartz Battery Clock

WHITTINGTON CHIMES:

The Whittington chimes originally rang in the church of St. Maryle Bow, Cheapside, London in the 16th Century. Legend has it that Dick Whittington, running away to escape his drudgery as an ill-treated houseboy, thought he heard the chimes say:

Turn again, Whittington,
Lord Mayor of Londontown.

Listen to Whittington Chimes:

Floor Clock (Rods) • Floor Clock (Tubular Bells) • Mantel • Quartz Battery Clock

ST. MICHAEL CHIMES:

One of the few chimes with a history based in the United States. Although the bells for this chime were cast in London, they were installed in St. Michael's Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 1764. During the Revolutionary War, the British captured the city and the bells were returned to England as spoils. After the war, a London merchant purchased them and returned the bells to Charleston, where they were re hung amid great rejoicing. In 1823, cracks were discovered in the bells and they were again returned to England to be recast. During the Civil War, the bells were removed to Columbia for safekeeping, but were ruined in a fire set by Sherman's Army. Only fragments of the bells were found. After the war, the remains made a third trip to England (where the original molds still stood) for restoration. They were once again installed in the Charleston church steeple in February 1867, where on March 21, 1967 they joyously rang out:

Home again,
Home again
From a foreign land.

Listen to St. Michaels Chimes:

Floor Clock (Rods) • Floor Clock (Tubular Bells) • Mantel

WINCHESTER CHIMES:

The Norman conquerors of England did not like the fantastic cathedral chimes of the Saxons, so Bishop Walkilin, a kinsman of William the Conqueror, demolished and rebuilt the Winchester chimes in 1093. The cathedral's central tower, which contained the chimes, fell in 1107 but was soon rebuilt. This edifice forms a substantial part of the present cathedral, located in Hampshire, England. The lyric of the Winchester chimes is:

O Art Divine, exalted blessing!
Each celestial charm expressing!
Proudest gift the gods bestow!
Sweetest chimes that mortals know.

CANTERBURY CHIMES:

This beautiful carillon was inspired by the great Cathedral of Canterbury. It has long been cherished among the finest musical expressions of its kind:

I can pass this way but once.
And any good, therefore, that I can do, let me know it now,
Let me not neglect it or defer it,
For I shall not pass this way again.

COO COO CLOCKS:

From the Black Forest in Germany, Coo Coos have a distinctive sound that everyone can indentify. Each hour the bird rings out its sound:

Listen to them:

Coo Coo 1 • Coo Coo 2 • Coo Coo 3 • Coo Coo 4

CAN I TURN THE CHIMES OFF?

Don't let anyone know I told you this... but the many of mechanical clocks have a chime silence option whereby a lever is placed in the face to turn off the chimes, striking, or both. This does not damage the clock but do be aware that the weights or springs affiliated with those will not unwind any longer.

Additionally, a few of the newer clocks feature Night-Off mode that silences the clock's strikes and chimes between 10pm and 7am. We recommend you allow yourself time to adjust to the new feature of your home before silencing the clock. Most people rarely notice it after several days. It is mostly a "company" feature. We really like the sound of the chimes but then again, we are clock people!

CAN THE CHIMES BE MADE LOUDER OR QUIETER?

Yes, but only slightly. We recommend that you allow yourself to become accustomed to the sound and soon you will find that they blend into your daily routine and you will hear them only when you want to. A clock on carpet is quieter than one on a hardwood floor. A case that touches the wall (which acts as a sounding board) will sound different. The chime hammers should be adjusted to be about 1/8" inch from the chime rods when at rest. If you adjust them slightly further away from the rods this will soften the sound slightly. Too far, however, will eliminate the sound entirely. The opposite is true for making the chimes louder. Be gentle when adjusting the chime rods as not to damage them. We can also show you how to do this if you visit the store.