| Birch Memorial Clock Tower | |
|---|---|
Menara Jam Peringatan Birch | |
 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | clock tower |
| Location | Ipoh, Kinta, Perak, Malaysia |
| Coordinates | 4°35′48.6″N 101°04′34.0″E / 4.596833°N 101.076111°E |
| Opened | 1909 |
The Birch Memorial Clock Tower (Malay: Menara Jam Peringatan Birch) is a clock tower in Ipoh, Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia.[1][2]
The clock tower was constructed to commemorate James W. W. Birch, the first British Resident of the state of Perak and unveiled on 8 December 1909 at a cost of $25,000.
The clock tower is located in a square and originally held a bronze, portrait bust of J. W. W. Birch in a niche, since removed. Four panels illustrate the growth of civilization designed by Messrs. Doulton and Co. of London. It has a mother bell and four smaller bells which used to strike the chimes supplied by Messrs. Gillet and Johnson, Croydon. Above the clock are four statues at each corner representing the cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.[1][3]
There are four panels each one of the depicting the exponents of the different stages of civilization:[4]
Panel A (North)
The Stone Age:
The Iron Age:
The Early Eastern Peoples :
Panel B (West)
The Eastern Mediterranean:
The Far East:
Greece and Rome:
Panel C (South)
The Byzantine Empire:
Islam:
The Age of Chivalry:
The Age of Faith:
Gothic Art:
The Renaissance:
The Reformation:
The Elizabethan Age:
Panel D (East)
Modern Science, Art and Social Services: Isaac Newton, William Harvey, James Watt, An unnamed Embroiderer, Beethoven, Robert Stephenson, Louis Daguerre, Florence Nightingale, Charles Darwin, Thomas Alva Edison, Joseph Lister.
