Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower

Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower
Record height
Tallest in Birmingham from 1908 to 1965[I]
Preceded by	St Martin in the Bull Ring
Surpassed by	BT Tower
General information
Type	Campanile
Location	University of Birmingham
Town or city	Birmingham
Country	England
Coordinates	52°27′00″N 1°55′51″W / 52.4499°N 1.9307°W / 52.4499; -1.9307
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	Chamberlain Tower, University of Birmingham
Designated	8 July 1982
Reference no.	1210306
Construction started	1900
Completed	1908

The Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower, or colloquially Old Joe, is a clock tower and campanile located in Chancellor's court at the University of Birmingham, in the suburb of Edgbaston. It is the tallest free-standing clock tower in the world,^[1] although its actual height is the subject of some confusion. The university lists it variously as 110 metres (361 ft),^[2] 99 metres (325 ft),^[3] and 100 metres (328 ft)^[4] tall, the last of which is supported by other sources.^[5][6] In a lecture in 1945, Mr C. G. Burton, secretary of the University, stated that "the tower stands 329 ft [100 m] high, the clock dials measure 17 ft [5.2 m] in diameter, the length of the clock hands are 10 and 6 ft [3.0 and 1.8 m], and the bell weighs 5 long tons [5.1 tonnes]".^[7]

The tower was built to commemorate Joseph Chamberlain, the first Chancellor of the University (with the commemoration being carved into the stone at the tower's base), although one of the original suggested names for the clock tower was the "Poynting Tower", after one of the earliest professors at the University, Professor John Henry Poynting.

A prominent landmark in Birmingham, the grade II* listed^[8] tower can be seen for miles around the campus, and has become synonymous with the University itself.