Bell Towers
Bells are also associated with clocks, indicating the hour by ringing. Indeed, the word clock comes from the Latin word cloca, meaning bell. Clock towers or bell towers can be heard over long distances which was especially important in the time when clocks were too expensive for widespread use. In many languages the same word can mean both "clock" and "bell".
In the case of clock towers and grandfather clocks, a particular sequence of tones may be played to represent the hour. One common pattern is called the "Westminster Quarters," a sixteen-note pattern named after the Palace of Westminster which popularized it as the measure used by Big Ben.
Read more about this topic: Bell (instrument)
Famous quotes containing the words bell and/or towers:
“Its quick silver bell beating, beating
And down the dark one ruby flare
Pulsing out red light like an artery,”
—Karl Shapiro (b. 1913)
“A city on whom plenty held full hand,
For riches strewed herself even in her streets;
Whose towers bore heads so high they kissed the clouds,
And strangers ne’er beheld but wondered at.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)