Here you will find information on the activities of the Section, its objectives, meetings and events, as well as information on how to join.
Brass dial with silvered chapter ring by John Pope, Margate
Painted dial by W. Nash of Bridge
Early painted dial by T Gilbert of Hythe
Movement of verge escapement pocket watch by John Elliott of Ashford
The South Eastern Section meets in the Large Hall, Vinters
Park Community Centre, Hampton Road, Maidstone.
The subjects of some recent meetings include:-
"Traditional Brass Lacquering"
"Sundials, Noon Dials and Meridian Lines"
"Clocks in the Fitzwilliam Museum"
"Bring and Discuss"
"Marine Chronometers"
"Seiko Watches"
"Domestic Electric Clocks"
"Huguenot Watchmakers"
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Membership Membership of the South Eastern Section is open to any person who is a member of the Antiquarian Horological Society. On joining, AHS Members may elect to be affiliated with one or more regional/national sections and the specialist interest groups. The South Eastern Section is one of the UK regional groups. Full details of how to become an AHS member are given in the main AHS website, here. If you are interested in finding out more about the AHS South Eastern Section you can contact the Section's Secretary via the main AHS office. Prospective members are also very welcome to attend any of the Section’s meetings without obligation. |
Meetings We meet bi-monthly from February to December (on the first Saturday afternoon of those months) in the large hall at Vinters Park Community Centre, Hampton Road, Maidstone. Our meetings are in the form of lectures by invited speakers, or visits to locations with a horological interest. Past speakers have included well-known horologists such as Beresford Hutchinson, Rita Shenton, The Viscount Midleton and John Robey. As well as lectures, meetings of a practical nature are also held. These typically comprise demonstrations by practicing craftsmen and women of specific clock and watch making skills, or on aspects of restoration and conservation. |
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Horological Tours These have included trips to the Black forest, the Swiss Jura, Budapest Vienna and Prague, and Milan and Florence |
Turret Clock Tours Every year we visit churches etc in and around Kent to view turret clocks. |
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Visits in England These have been to The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, Belmont near Faversham, The BHI at Upton hall near Newark, Loughborough Bell Foundry, Deal Time Ball, Greenwich, The Great Westminster Clock and Big Ben, National Trust properties, stately homes and clock manufacturers. |
Newsletter The South Eastern Section produces its own newsletter "The Horologeon" twice a year in June and December for the benefit of Section members, with interesting articles and news and views all written for and by members. (The newsletter is for members' research only and is not for sale to non-members.) |
| Saturday 7 April |
LECTURE: 'Anatomy of an English Watch’ by Ian Coote |
| Saturday 2 June |
LECTURE: 'The story of a manufacturing jeweller from the Birmingham jewellery quarter’ by Peter Bill |
Programmes can be subject to change. For full details of time and location of the next meeting of this Section, please refer to the Society's main Programme page
Alternatively, please check with the AHS office to confirm dates and times.
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"The Horologeon Newsletter" is produced twice yearly, in June and December, and carries useful and informative articles, news and views by members for members.
Each issue contains around 25 to 30 pages and is printed in colour. It is supplied free to South East Section members. (Regrettably, it is not available to non-members).
Contents of this issue included articles on horological postage stamps and first-day covers; commemorative medals; a history of the chronometer pictured on the front cover; and clocks on picture postcards. |
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The front cover of Issue 6. |
Click on each image for full size.
Gabriel Fowkes, whose career dates span 1759 to 1808, is the son of a clockmaker of the same name.
This Clock dates from around 1780. Until 1997 it spent its life in a well known former coaching inn on the London to Dover road, The Royal Victoria & Bull Hotel, Dartford. [Reference: 'Kent Clocks & Clockmakers' by Michael Pearson]
It is a fine example of a shield-dial Tavern Clock with a high quality A-plated five pillar, five-wheel train, reverse wind, 8-day movement with an anchor escapement.
The clock is 58 inches (147 cm) tall with a 24 inch (61 cm) diameter dial.
This longcase clock by George Thatcher of Cranbrook has a 5-pillar, 8-day movement and has typical "peace and plenty" engraving around the dial's date aperture, as often found on Kent clocks.
The engraved "e" for "a" in Thatcher's name on the dial is not unique in Cranbrook clocks, perhaps reflecting the dialect of the time, which is the 2nd quarter of the 18th century.
George was active from before 1716 when he took an apprentice, until he died in 1773; his son Thomas traded in Tenterden.
Thomas was the son of George Thatcher of Cranbrook. He made a few 30-hour longcase clocks and his father made several lantern clocks, and 30-hour and 8-day longcase clocks. Thomas died about 1772, predeceasing his father.
This clock is a two handed, 30-hour striking clock with a gravity escapement. Striking is on a bell. The movement is a birdcage type with flat oblong pillars and is housed in an oak case with a low caddy top.
The date is judged to be c.1730.
The watchmaker is John Elliott of Ashford Kent (1802-1851). The movement is a verge escapement with round pillars. The pair cases are by Benjamin Norton, hallmarked London 1832. The enamel dial has gold hands.
Three artefacts signed George Barham of Hawkhurst, Kent;
a standard English lever movement from the mid 19th century, signed for George Barham, Hawkhurst, and listed by Loomes as being active from 1835-1874;
a winding key advertising the business - these could still be ordered from materials suppliers well into the 20th century;
and the book is Barham's copy of the 5th edition (1854) of Thomas Reid's Treatise on Clock and Watch Making.
The South East Section usually organises an annual visit to a number of local churches or buildings with turret clocks in the Kent and East Sussex areas.
Click on each image for full size.
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Flatbed clock at Appledore by J Smith & Sons, Derby. |
At Ivychurch, by John Moore & Son, Clerkenwell. |
Wheelwork at Rye Church, installed in 1561 and still working. |
Clock by J W Benson, London, at St. Mary in the Marsh. |
Horological Museums and Collections open to the Public: |
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Greenwich Royal Observatory Greenwich, London SE |
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Places to Visit with Horological Exhibits: |
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South Foreland Light House Near Dover, Kent | |
Practical Demonstration.
This is a meeting which we eagerly await each year, a practical demonstration by Keith Davis. The subject this year was 'Dial Matting'. There are differing ways of achieving the 'matt' finish but clearly Keith prefers the method produced with a roller. The tool that Keith demonstrated was about 18 inches long and it consisted of a long wooden handle extending to a steel frame with 3 loose discs at the end. The discs had a series of hardened points similar to saw teeth. By applying heavy hand pressure the wheels were moved back and forth over the surface to be matted, which was finally brushed with a wire brush to remove the metal dust.
In preparing the surface, Keith recommended that this should be scraped initially. For this purpose, he used an old file bent over to form a hook, and achieved a flat surface through scraping in different directions.
Working the metal in this manner causes some distortion and the dial will need to be flattened again and ultimately the surface will need to be finished off with wet and dry paper.
This is not a task to be carried out in a hurry and should be done in short bursts, as it is quite tiring. It does also need a lot of practice in order to achieve the best results.
The afternoon continued with a barrage of questions, sometimes drifting a little off the subject — but that only made for an even more enjoyable afternoon.
Bring & Discuss.
The meeting was held as usual at the Community Hall in Vintners Park Maidstone and was attended by some forty enthusiasts. Items presented included readings from old horological tomes demonstrating yet again that pride of ownership and arguments about such were as alive a couple of centuries ago as they are today; electric clocks and motors of different ages showing that early construction methods and principles have stood the test of time; and wooden printing blocks which had been used and modified slightly at a later date to be used again, the latter subject relating to the use of advertising print blocks which were modified when new products became available.
A small but very weighty turret clock ticked sonorously away during the meeting and caused a slight stir when the strike sounded at three o'clock (a gentle click-click-click), followed by the fly overrunning on its ratchet (quite a loud clatter!) as it slowed down.
Two early (c. 1690 and 1715) verge bracket clocks by Windmills and Robin were eagerly examined after the formal presentations, as was a magnificent Lorch watchmaker's lathe with all its accessories in its box. Two dipleidoscopes were also on show and their application was discussed at length.
The history and exploits of a Mercer ship's chronometer were presented, giving the dates of its various voyages and repair time in the Admiralty workshops. The voyages were detailed with the number of the convoys it travelled with and the ships it was later issued to, together with photographs of the vessels. A second small turret clock was described, having been constructed by the member, using a grasshopper escapement as detailed by Lord Grimthorpe in an early article on the system.
A vote of thanks to the contributors by David Presgrave was carried enthusiastically by acclamation and the meeting concluded with the customary Christmas fare.
Please note that the Antiquarian Horological Society is a registered charity, and is restricted by its constitution to the promotion of the non-commercial aspects of horology. Consequently Sections are unable to respond to queries relating to the valuation of clocks and watches, or to act as a forum for the purchase or sale of horological items.
