Quarter bells are the bells that the clock mechanism strikes on each passing quarter of the hour. Often, as in the case of Big Ben, a different tune is played for each quarter. This enables people to be able to tell the time, without actually having to be within sight of the clock face.
Famous quotes containing the words quarter and/or bells:
“A quarter of an hour is worth a thousand pieces of gold.”
—Chinese proverb.
“O he did whistle and she did sing,
And all the bells on earth did ring
For joy our Saviour Christ was born
On Christmas Day in the morning.”
—Unknown. As I Sat on a Sunny Bank. . .
Oxford Book of Light Verse, The. W. H. Auden, ed. (1938)