Potts of Leeds: Clocks of Character

From the Town hall to the Corn Exchange, so many of the clocks familiar to us in the townscape of Leeds and beyond were made by Potts of Leeds. To celebrate the work of this great Leeds company Armley Mills is exhibiting the Potts family’s private collection of clocks for the public for the very first time. The Potts of Leeds – Clocks of Character exhibition opens on Saturday 5th October and runs until Sunday 28th September 2014. William Potts began making clocks in Pudsey in 1833 before moving to central Leeds in 1862. With a growing fame for the quality and reliability of their clocks the company received a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria in 1897. Over five generations the Potts family produced some 1,600 public clocks for towns all over Britain and across the world. This exhibition brings together examples spanning the history of the company and features a varied collection of turret clocks, wall clocks, drum clocks and unusual clock-based items. There are prominent royal clocks and an example of the company’s famous railway clock from Argentina. There will also be never-before-seen archive documents from the earliest days of the Potts company. Uniquely, all of the clocks on display will be wound daily and will run for the duration of the exhibition. If you’ve ever wondered what the workings of a cathedral clock look like, or questioned where the tick-tock sound comes from then the Potts of Leeds – Clocks of Character exhibition is the place to get all the answers.

Suitable for
Any age


Website
www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/Pages/armleymills/Clocks-of-Character.aspx

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk//yh000006?id=EVENT482250