Birch Memorial Clock Tower

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Birch Memorial Clock Tower
Menara Jam Peringatan Birch
Birch Memorial Clocktower.JPG
Birch Memorial Clock Tower
General information
Type clock tower
Location Ipoh, Kinta, Perak, Malaysia
Coordinates 4°35′48.6″N101°04′34.0″E / 4.596833°N 101.076111°E / 4.596833; 101.076111
Opened1909

The Birch Memorial Clock Tower (Malay : Menara Jam Peringatan Birch) is a clock tower in Ipoh, Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia. [1] [2]

Contents

History

The clock tower was constructed to commemorate James W. W. Birch, the first British Resident of the state of Perak and unveiled on 8 December 1909 at a cost of $25,000. [3]

Architecture

The clock tower is located in a square and originally held a bronze, portrait bust of J. W. W. Birch in a niche, since removed. Four panels illustrate the growth of civilization designed by Messrs. Doulton and Co. of London. It has a mother bell and four smaller bells which used to strike the chimes supplied by Messrs. Gillet and Johnson, Croydon. Above the clock are four statues at each corner representing the cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. [1] [4]

The growth of civilization

There are four panels each one of the depicting the exponents of the different stages of civilization: [5]

Panel A (North)

Panel A. Panel A Birch memorial clock tower.jpg
Panel A.

The Stone Age:

The Iron Age:

The Early Eastern Peoples :

Panel B (West)

Panel B. Panel B Birch memorial clock tower.jpg
Panel B.

The Eastern Mediterranean:

The Far East:

Greece and Rome:

Panel C (South)

Panel C. Panel C Birch memorial clock tower.jpg
Panel C.

The Byzantine Empire:

Islam:

The Age of Chivalry:

The Age of Faith:

Gothic Art:

The Renaissance:

The Reformation:

The Elizabethan Age:

Panel D (East)

Panel D. Panel D Birch memorial clock tower.jpg
Panel D.

Modern Science, Art and Social Services: Isaac Newton, William Harvey, James Watt, An unnamed Embroiderer, Beethoven, Robert Stephenson, Louis Daguerre, Florence Nightingale, Charles Darwin, Thomas Alva Edison, Joseph Lister.

Birch Memorial Clock Tower Birch-Memorial-Clock-Tower-Ipoh.jpg
Birch Memorial Clock Tower

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Birch Memorial Clock Tower, Ipoh". perak.info. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  2. "www.mbi.gov.my/en/web/guest/menara-peringatan-birch;jsessionid=660967965CC38F830F4AEF84DDC13447". Archived from the original on 2015-11-22.
  3. Najib, Farhan (21 June 2021). "Iconic Ipoh Birch Memorial Clock Tower still going strong after 112 years". The Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 22 April 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  4. "Birch Memorial. SIR JOHN ANDERSON WELCOMED AT IPOH. Description of the Clock Tower". The Straits Budget: 5. 9 December 1909.
  5. "J W W Birch Memorial Clock Tower And First Times Of Malaya Building, Ipoh" (PDF).
  6. "Birch Memorial Clock Tower". Lonelyplanet.com.
  7. "Workman obliterates painting of prophet". The Straits Times. 17 July 1958. Retrieved 21 September 2024.