The history of the Grandfather Clock
Although in 1582, Galileo Galilei discovered that a pendulum could be used to track time it wasn't until a Dutchman named Christian Huygens used one as a regulating device for a clock in 1656. Once again, Leonardo da Vinci had beaten everyone by 162 years in 1494 with his silent pendulum escapement with sinusoidal cam design shown below.
Known by various names, the first Long Case Clocks were produced in Britain when a London clock maker named Ahasuerus Fromenteel sent his son to Holland to learn how to use a pendulum.
Although the theory was sound, it was extremely difficult to make a pendulum device that would keep accurate time and it took about 15 years before, in 1670, the anchor escapement had been developed. Once this was combined with the long pendulum the floor clocks could be developed that had great accuracy. Several manufacturers of fine clocks soon appeared in Britain and grandfather clocks by Thomas Tompian, George Graham, Joseph Knibb and Daniel Quare are all collector's items now.
Originally the clocks cases were made from English oak but later a variety of hard woods were used such as African mahogany. The faces of the clocks started off rather plain but as the years went on, enamelled dials illustrated with small painted scenes were introduced.
Quality British Long Case Clocks were very popular throughout the world until about 1870 when mass produced cheap movements from the United States flooded the market. After this the construction of British Floor Clocks virtually disappeared.
In the early 1700's English Tall Clocks started to include the famous moon dial that could tell the phase of the moon at a glance. This addition was very popular, and still is to this day. 
It wasn't just an interesting addition but also very useful in the days before street lighting. Knowing the phase of the moon made planning of night trips safer from the risk of highwaymen and also workers could harvest crops on the nights near the full moon. Of course highwaymen also made use of these clocks in planning their attacks for the nights near the new moon.
So why are these clocks know as Grandfather Clocks? You probably already know although you maybe don't realise so click the link below and find out.
