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This is the clock mechanism within the Clock Tower. In 1848, the Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airey, and barrister Edmund Denison (who was an amateur watchmaker) took charge of designing the Great Clock. Clockmaker Edward Dent had the job of building it.
The inscription in gold running the length of the mechanism reads ' This clock was made in the year of our Lord 1854 by Fredrick Dent of the Strand and the Royal Exchange, Clockmaker to the Queen, from the designs of Edmund Becket Denison QC. Fixed here 1859.'
The clock was completed in 1854 but lay in the workshop until 1859 when the tower was finally completed. During this time fine tuning took place.