Glass case of famous £1m Corpus Chronophage Clock in Cambridge is damaged by vandals
A vandal believed to be armed with a hammer smashed the glass case housing Corpus Christi College’s famous clock on Saturday night (March 4).
One of Cambridge’s most popular tourist highlights, the Corpus Chronophage Clock was created by Corpus Christi alumnus and honorary fellow Dr John C Taylor OBE and unveiled by Prof Stephen Hawking on September 19, 2008.
The clock, which Dr Taylor invested more than £1million to make, remains undamaged by the attack.
The University of Cambridge college said: “The college is saddened that the glass case housing the iconic Corpus Chronophage Clock was damaged last night. The police are investigating the matter and we will repair the damage as soon as possible.”
Sometimes called the grasshopper clock, it sits outside the college’s Taylor Library on the corner of Bene't Street and Trumpington Street, looking out over King’s Parade.
A police spokesperson told the Cambridge Independent: “We were called at 8.45pm on Saturday (March 4) with reports a man with a hammer had attempted to damage the Corpus Christi clock in King’s Parade.
“The man, who was wearing dark clothing, ran away from the scene after causing damage to the protective glass covering the clock.
“Officers attended the scene but could not locate the suspect.
“We are in contact with the university and an investigation is ongoing. No arrests have yet been made.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact police via their web chat service or online forms at www.cambs.police.uk/report quoting 35/16857/23. Anyone without internet access should call 101.
The clock features a gold-plated face, with its ripples intended as a reference to the Big Bang that formed the universe and therefore represents the beginning of time.
Above the clock is a grasshopper-like monster - the Chronophage, meaning ‘time-eater’, which devours each minute in its jaws.
Three rings of LED lights enable you to read the time. From the innermost ring, they show the hours, minutes and hands.
As each hour is struck, the chains shake and a hammer hits a wooden coffin.
The Latin inscription underneath the clock - mundus transit et concupiscentia eius - means 'the world and its desires pass away'.
Another Latin inscription can be found on the pendulum.
Joh. Sartor Monan Inv. MMVIII can be translated as John Taylor, of the Isle of Man, made it, in 2008. Joh. is Johannes, Sartor is the mediaeval Latin for tailor, Monanensis is the Isle of Man, Inv. is invenit - a verb with multiple meanings such as discovered or brought to fruition, while MMVIII is the year 2008.
Dr Taylor is one of the world’s most successful inventors, with over 400 patents to his name, and is best known for his bi-metal kettle controls used in two billion devices worldwide.
He created the Corpus Clock in tribute to the great 18th-century clockmaker John Harrison, who solved the problem of longitude.
Harrison devised grasshopper escapement - an internal device releasing a clock’s gears to move forward at each swing of the pendulum - in around 1722. Dr Taylor decided to make the grasshopper external so it was visible.
More than 200 people were involved in its creation. It was built by the engineering firm Huxley Bertram.
