Turret clock movement from the demolished Waterpoort in Gorinchem

Clock movement with separate hammer, belonging to a bronze bell, originating from the tower of the demolished Waterpoort in Gorinchem. The bell is dated: 1581. The numbering on the great wheel of the going train served to set the clock to time. These numbers had to correspond to the position of the hand. In relation to a mark, or possibly the engagement of the small gear wheel at the top, one could set the hand to the correct position from inside. The hour hand could not be read very precisely, but for the striking train it had to be exact. By sliding the verge out of the escape wheel, the gear wheels can rotate freely and the hand can be set to time. The small gear wheel on the outside of the going train has 12 teeth and revolves once every 2 hours; this can be seen from the numbering on the great wheel of the going train, which shows twice 60 minutes. On the great wheel are 2 cams that activate the striking train. It therefore strikes twice per 2 hours. The locking plate also shows that there is no half-hour strike. Below the gear wheel is the bearing bracket for the vertical arbor to the hands higher in the tower. The gear wheel driven by this must contain 72 teeth (ratio 1 : 6), so that this arbor revolves once every 12 hours, equal to the small and only hand. Minute hands are only from a considerably later period. If the gear wheel has fewer teeth, there is another transmission with unequal gears somewhere to ensure that the hand revolves once every 12 hours. The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, holds this object as BK-NM-11197; its record gives material recorded as iron (metal); technique forging; measurements height 95 cm x width 110 cm x depth 60 cm. Description translated from the museum's Dutch catalogue text; details are those of this museum object, and how far it represents a wider type has not been independently verified.