The Godiva clock in Broadgate, Coventry, UK. On the hour a model Lady Godiva appears as the doors open. Another door opens and peeping Tom can be seen.
One of the most noticeable features of Broadgate is the clock on the south side of the square. Below the clock face is a mechanical feature that has fairground like characteristics. On the hour the bell strikes, the doors open and from the right hand door comes a figure of Lady Godiva riding a white horse. She travels a short distance and goes through the other door out of sight. While this is happening above is another window that also opens and out pops the head of Peeping Tom. He has a quick look then covers his eyes as it is said he was struck blind, and quickly pops his head back in. All theIn the 18th and 19th centuries, Coventry became one of the three main UK centres of watch and clock manufacture and ranked alongside Prescot, near Liverpool and Clerkenwell in , the origins of clock and watch making in the city can probably be traced to the latter half of the 17th century. Samuel Watson, who was sheriff of Coventry in 1682, became famous for making an ingenious astronomical clock; John Carte, a watchmaker from Coventry had set up his own business in London by 1695, and the mayor of Coventry in 1727 was a watchmaker named George Porter. The firm of "Vale" was established in the late 1740s, and "Rotherhams" set up business in 1750. The next 60 years saw a rapid development in the trade with factories employing a number of specialised workers springing up alongside the workshops of individual master craftsmen. From 1825 to 1850, Coventry's business in watches almost doubled, and in 1861, some 2,037 people were employed in the trade. As the industry declined from 1880 onwards, due mainly to competition from American and Swiss clock and watch manufacturers, the skilled pool of workers proved crucial to the setting up of sewing machine and bicycle manufacture, and eventually the motorcycle, automobile, machine tool and aircraft industries. However, Rotherhams were still making 100 watches a day in 1899 when many watchmakers had gone out of business.
Size: 5603px × 3735px
Location: Broadgate, Coventry City Centre, Coventry, England, UK
Photo credit: © David Warren / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: broadgate, buildings, centre, clock, clocks, coventry, funny, godiva, historical, lady, mechanical, move, moving, peeping, shopping, statue, telling, time, tom, town, unusual
