Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower

Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower
Old Joe, the University Clock Tower
General information
Status	Listed Grade II
Type	Campanile
Location	University of Birmingham
Town or city	Birmingham
Country	England
Coordinates	52°27′00″N 1°55′51″W / 52.4499°N 1.9307°W / 52.4499; -1.9307Coordinates: 52°27′00″N 1°55′51″W / 52.4499°N 1.9307°W / 52.4499; -1.9307

The Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower (grid reference SP048835), or simply Old Joe, is a clock tower and campanile located in Chancellor's court at the University of Birmingham, in the suburb of Edgbaston. It is the tallest free-standing clock tower in the world, although its actual height is the subject of some confusion. The university lists it as both 110 metres (361 ft) and 99 metres (325 ft) tall, whereas other sources state that it is 100 metres (328 ft) tall. In a lecture in 1945, Mr. C. G. Burton, secretary of the University, stated that the tower stands 329 ft high, the clock dials measure 17 ft in diameter, the length of the clock hands are 10ft and 6ft, and the bell weighs 5 tons.

The tower was built to commemorate Joseph Chamberlain, the first Chancellor of the University (with the commemoration being carved into the stone at the tower's base), although one of the original suggested names for the clock tower was the 'Poynting Tower', after one of the earliest professors at the University, Professor John Henry Poynting. The nicknames Old Joe, Big Joe, or simply The Clock Tower are used by the student population and local residents.

A prominent landmark in Birmingham, the grade II listed tower can be seen for miles around the campus, and has become synonymous with the University itself.

Designed as part of the initial phase of the Edgbaston campus by architects Aston Webb and Ingress Bell, the tower was constructed between 1900–1908, and stood at the centre of a semicircle of matching red brick buildings. The tower is modelled on the Torre del Mangia in Siena. The original tower designs were amended due to Chamberlain's great admiration for the Italian city's campanile. On 1 October 1905, the Birmingham Post reported that Chamberlain had announced to the University Council an anonymous gift of £50,000 (the donor in fact was Sir Charles Holcroft). This anonymous gift was announced some two months later in the Birmingham Post as "to be intended for the erection of a tower in connection with the new buildings at Bournbrook at a cost estimated by the architects at £25,000. The tower, it was suggested, would be upwards of 300 ft (91.4 m) in height, and would not only form the main architectural feature of the University but would be useful in connection with the Physics Department and as a record tower. In 1940, Sir Mark Oliphant used the tower for radar experiments.