Exhibition on clocks and timekeeping at Fairfax House in York (From York Press)

Exhibition on clocks and timekeeping at Fairfax House in York

10:08am Tuesday 25th September 2012 in News

AN exhibition exploring advances in clocks and timekeeping during the “golden age of science” is to open at Fairfax House in York next month.

Although mechanical clocks have been with us since the late 13th and early 14th centuries, those behind the exhibition say it was not until the Eighteenth century that their reliability and greater precision started to see the sundial thrown off of its pedestal.

The three-month event will celebrate the innovative prowess of clockmakers of Yorkshire and York, including John Harrison, inventor of the Harrison Precision Pendulum Clock Number Two.

Fairfax House director, Hannah Phillip said: “In creating an exhibition on time in the Eighteenth century, the ultimate name in precision timekeeping, and by extension the quest for longitude, is of course Harrison.

“Yorkshire-born, and a carpenter by trade his name shines through as one of the most brilliant men in horology, whose vision, genius and thirst for conquering the unsolvable brought about such vast leaps in engineering of course the quest for measuring longitude.”

Keeping Time opens on October 5. Further details at fairfaxhouse.co.uk