The first thing that may come to mind when thinking about clocks in London is Big Ben, the well-known bell inside the clock tower at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in Central London along the banks of the River Thames. (Its full name is the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and the tower it's housed in was renamed from the Clock Tower to the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, fun facts you can share with your friends and family.)

But London, and Great Britain as a whole, is home to a massive amount of clockmaking and watchmaking history. You can explore a portion of that history by visiting the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, including John Harrison's marine chronometers, which are considered some of the most important clocks ever made due to their role in maritime history. But there's a whole world of timekeeping history all around London. Here are a few of the best hidden (and not-so-hidden) gems in the Big Smoke.

Located on Level 2 of the Science Museum in South Kensington, the Clockmakers' Museum is a must-see for any aficionado of watches and clocks. It contains over 700 objects, including watches, clocks, marine chronometers, and sundials, all of which tell the story of watch and clockmaking innovation in London over the past four centuries. It also includes hands-on interactive exhibits that demonstrate how clockwork mechanisms work, a student clock and watchmaking display that showcases the best of British horological training from current and recent students, and a rotating special exhibition area, which currently holds Charles Frodsham, Precise Time: Two Centuries in the Making, a display on the London watchmaker Charles Frodsham & Co. that opened March 9, 2026.

"The current display on Charles Frodsham & Co. explores how one company helped shape the way the world keeps time over the past 200 years," said Anna Rolls, Curator of the Clockmakers' Museum. The exhibition, focusing on "Frodsham's role in meeting society's evolving need for precision timekeeping," has highlights that include "a record holding watch, marine chronometers used on naval and scientific voyages, and a new display revealing how the company's Double Impulse Chronometer Wristwatch is made in its English workshop by a small team of watchmakers," Rolls said.

First-time visitors will find that there's quite a lot to view, unsurprising given the number of objects and the time periods covered. Though it is difficult to narrow down highlights from over 700 objects in the collection, there are three key things that a visitor should not miss, according to Rolls.

"David Ramsay's star-shaped watch, one of a number of exquisite form watches on display in the museum. Why this one in particular? As early watches were not especially accurate timekeepers, watchmakers compensated with elaborate decoration, and watches made in the shape of recognizable objects were particularly popular in the first half of the seventeenth century. This example, made c. 1625, is in remarkably good condition with exceptional engraving, probably because it lay hidden for more than 200 years during and after the Civil War. The maker, David Ramsay, was the first Master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers when it formed in 1631."

"The Jefferys watch. This watch sits alongside its more famous cousin H5, by John Harrison, and visitors should make sure to see both. It is the first watch to demonstrate a dramatic improvement in timekeeping made possible by Harrison's innovations. In many ways, it marks the beginning of precision watchmaking, and helped move Harrison towards designing his H4, which ultimately solved the longitude problem."

"The case dedicated to George Daniels. Rather than choosing a single object, I have selected this entire display, which brings together several important pieces associated with Britain's most celebrated modern watchmaker. We currently have on loan two of Daniels' handmade pocket watches; the Sarah Jane, made for his daughter in 1970, and the Space Traveller II, one of his most complex pocket watches. Daniels was closely involved with the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, and on his death bequeathed part of his collection to the Museum including a Patek Philippe wristwatch, into which he successfully fitted his co-axial escapement."

The Clockmakers' Museum is free to visit during Science Museum opening hours**, daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the last entry at 5:15 p.m. Admission is free, but the Science Museum asks visitors to book a timed ticket on its website.** Visitors can also join one of the museum's free volunteer-led tours, details of which can be found on the Science Museum's website. Private curator-led tours can be booked by contacting the Clerk of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers at [email protected]

For more information visit the Clockmakers’ Museum https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/clockmakers-museum

For something a little more unusual and off the beaten path, it's well worth a trip south of the river to The Clockworks in West Norwood, the only museum in the world dedicated entirely to electrical horology. It displays a collection of over 100 clocks and other timekeepers, and if you want a detailed look at the development of networked and precision timekeeping between 1840 and 1970, this is the place to go. It's also an exercise in ASMR, as all of the clocks tick away and sometimes chime or whirr as you walk through the space.

The collection gives the opportunity to learn about timekeeping objects like this ship's distributing clock, which acted as a transmitter to control the time across a network of clocks aboard a ship; this Fedchenko precision regulator tank clock, which achieved precision in the range of quartz clocks while still using a pendulum; and this self-winding London Underground clock, with a self-winding mechanism that is activated once an hour and also has the capability to be synchronized by a controlling clock if needed, thus reducing the need for manual adjustment by station staff.

The Clockworks is also home to a horological library and a functional workshop, which has a Conservator-in-Residence. A free curator's tour runs every Friday at 12:30 p.m. and can be booked in advance on the museum's website. Visits on other days are by appointment through its scheduling tool. On September 18 and 19, 2026, The Clockworks will be participating in the Open House Festival program (September 12 to 20), with drop-in open days on both dates. Ticketed curator's tours, a family clockmaking session and a gilding workshop with the conservator-in-residence can be booked through the Open House Festival website from midday on August 19.

For more information visit The Clockworks https://theclockworks.org/

The Clocks and Watches Gallery is located on the upper floor in rooms 38-39 in the British Museum, and displays approximately 190 objects from its over 8,000-piece collection that range from the earliest timekeeping examples used in Western European churches to ever-more-complex clocks to marine chronometers to the democratization of quartz and modern precision timekeeping. Time your visit just right, and you'll hear many of the clocks chiming or striking the hours, as many of them are working (though some of the older ones are not necessarily keeping the most accurate time).

Quite possibly the most bonkers clock in the collection is the Mechanical Galleon, a gilded brass automaton shaped like a ship**, made in Augsburg around 1585 by Hans Schlottheim**. It has a clock at the base of the main mast displaying hours and minutes, automata in the form of sailors in the main masts that audibly strike the hours and quarters, other automata figures that process around the deck, cannons around the hull (at least one of which fired automatically), and an organ with bellows that played music.

Also of note in the collection are the Cassiobury Park turret clock, a verge escapement clock produced c. 1610 by prolific church clockmaker Leonard Tennant; an example of a 'memento mori' silver-cased verge watch in the form of a skull; and many watches by historically significant British watchmakers like Thomas Tompion, John Arnold, George Graham, Thomas Mudge, and George Daniels.

Ahead of your visit, it's worth taking a look at an episode or two of the Curator's Corner featuring the British Museum's Curator of Horology, Oliver Cooke, on their YouTube channel. My particular favorite is Season 10, Episode 6: Clocks that brew tea, sing, and EXPLODE: 24 Hours in Clocks. Let's just say this episode does what it says on the tin!

For more information visit The British Museum https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/clocks-and-watches

This is merely scratching the surface of what's available for the watch and clock aficionado in London. If you have additional time (pun intended), consider visiting the excellent collection of art and French clocks at the Wallace Collection, wandering through the City of London and finding its many historic public clocks, or attending lectures at the Antiquarian Horological Society, which are free to members and non-members alike and run as hybrid events, in person at St Mary-at-Hill Church in the City of London and live on Zoom.

For more information visit the Antiquarian Horological Society https://www.ahsoc.org/