From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Old Joe", the University Clock Tower.

Another image of "Old Joe".

The Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower (grid reference SP048835) is a 100 metres tall clock tower in the centre of Chancellor's Court at the University of Birmingham, England and was built to commemorate Joseph Chamberlain, the first Chancellor of the University. The nicknames "Old Joe", "Big Joe" or simply "The Clock Tower" are used by the student population and local residents.

A prominent landmark in the city of Birmingham, the grade II listed tower can be seen from a radius of many miles around the campus, and has become synonymous with the University itself. Designed as part of the initial phase of the Edgbaston campus by architects Aston Webb and Ingress Bell, the tower was constructed between 1900-1908, and stood at the centre of a semi-circle of matching Redbrick buildings.

The tower remained the tallest building in Birmingham until 1969, when construction on the 152 metre tall BT Tower was completed in the Jewellery Quarter area of the city. However, Old Joe is still one of the fifty tallest buildings, and the tallest clock tower, in the UK [1]. The minute hand is 10.5 feet long, the hour hand is 2 feet across, the pendulum is 15 feet long and the hour bells weigh six tonnes.

Old Joe's design was inspired by the Torre del Mangia, the medieval clock tower which forms part of the Town Hall in Siena, Italy. The tower, like many of the original campus buildings, is built from from Accrington redbrick, while the clock hands are made of sheet copper. The Union Station Clocktower in Waterbury, Connecticut was completed a year later in 1909 and is of a similar design.

• Students used to be able to visit the top of the tower quite easily via the lift inside it. However after a number of students committed suicide by jumping off it access has been severely limited to pre-appointed visits.^{[citation needed]}
• There is a famous superstition not taken entirely seriously, amongst students that if they stand under the tower when it strikes they will fail their exams.
• The asteroid 10515 Old Joe is named in its honour [2].
• The main bar on Campus, 'Joe's' is also named after the clock tower.
• Along with several other Birmingham structures Old Joe is said to be the one of the inspirations for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers. Other contenders include Perrott's Folly.^{[citation needed]}

• Skyscrapernews entry on the clock tower
• Images of England - details from listed building database

Coordinates: 52.44944° N 1.93080° W