Outside clocks or exterior clocks may be small details in a cityscape but they are nonetheless important. They obviously fill a useful purpose; they show the inhabitants or visitors in the city what time it is. They are also often very decorative, especially the old ones. Exterior clocks can be seen on towers, they can be put flat on walls or at a right angle so that they hang from a small pole which is put on the wall. They can also, even though it's less usual, stand alone (not put on an exterior wall) with the dial and clockwork on the top of a sort of pillar or column. They are common near bus and train stations and on official state buildings like churches, city halls and libraries. The exterior clocks doesn't have to have the form of a classic clock; when they are put outdoor the size increases and the designer's imagination can play a bigger part.
The clock can have the form of a sphere with the hands bent around it; it can have numbers or not, be lighted or have different color effects. This is the reason why such a simple thing as an exterior clock can be so much more than just something that shows the time! As clocks are such common objects, it's not strange that they come in so many variations. You want to make every clock unique! There are some different types of exterior clocks and on this site I'll describe the most common ones but also some more unusual fun examples! When discussing the matter of exterior clocks, some categories worth mentioning among tower clocks are skeleton clocks, silhouette clocks, surface mount clock dials, canister clocks and also semi-flush front lighted clocks. There are also streetscape clocks among which bracket clocks and post clocks are the most usual ones. The foremost difference between these types of exterior clocks is the method by which they are mounted on the wall surface which can be made of different materials like wood, brick, concrete or plastic.
Another object in this context is bells which are the origin of the hourly ringing from churches. The bells are also a signifier of time but calls to the hearing instead of the sight. The ringing from a bell is also a nice element that reminds of times not too long ago when the church was the center of the city which people visited regularly. There are many exterior clocks in the world, I'd say at least one and most likely several more, in every bigger village and city. One of the most famous of the exterior clocks in the world is probably the Big Ben, you can read more in the article ”Famous exterior clocks”. These clocks, just as every other type of clocks, doesn't just keep working and ticking forever. They need regular maintenance and sometimes careful restoration to hold for a long time. And that is everybody's wish because they are often very expensive to create and mount. The clocks in cities are exposed to wear due to the heavy traffic and the exhaust fumes it leaves behind. The weather is also a reason for wear; rain, snow and strong winds don't leave the exterior clock untouched.
