A late eighteenth century single-handed hooded wall timepiece with alarm.
The one-piece brass dial is well engraved and signed for the maker, William Gill of Hastings, who is recorded by Baillie as working circa 1795. The clock is single-handed and has a birdcage movement. It is a time piece (that is a clock which does not strike) fitted with an alarm in the style of a lantern clock with a central disc on the dial. It is in effect an evolution of the lantern clock design and the technology was at least 100 years old when this clock was made. There are two weights, one to drive the movement and the other to power the alarm. The pine hood is original. A clock such as this would have been bought for the servants' quarters below stairs in a great house or for the kitchen of a farmhouse. Often the pine would have been painted to match its surroundings. This clock was sold by Brian Loomes and is described in his book The Concise Guide to British Clocks on page 123.
Clock types
