<P> Early clock dials did not indicate minutes and seconds . A clock with a dial indicating minutes was illustrated in a 1475 manuscript by Paulus Almanus, and some 15th - century clocks in Germany indicated minutes and seconds . An early record of a seconds hand on a clock dates back to about 1560 on a clock now in the Fremersdorf collection . </P> <P> During the 15th and 16th centuries, clockmaking flourished, particularly in the metalworking towns of Nuremberg and Augsburg, and in Blois, France . Some of the more basic table clocks have only one time - keeping hand, with the dial between the hour markers being divided into four equal parts making the clocks readable to the nearest 15 minutes . Other clocks were exhibitions of craftsmanship and skill, incorporating astronomical indicators and musical movements . The cross-beat escapement was invented in 1584 by Jost Bürgi, who also developed the remontoire . Bürgi's clocks were a great improvement in accuracy as they were correct to within a minute a day . These clocks helped the 16th - century astronomer Tycho Brahe to observe astronomical events with much greater precision than before . </P> <P> The next development in accuracy occurred after 1656 with the invention of the pendulum clock . Galileo had the idea to use a swinging bob to regulate the motion of a time - telling device earlier in the 17th century . Christiaan Huygens, however, is usually credited as the inventor . He determined the mathematical formula that related pendulum length to time (about 99.4 cm or 39.1 inches for the one second movement) and had the first pendulum - driven clock made . The first model clock was built in 1657 in the Hague, but it was in England that the idea was taken up . The longcase clock (also known as the grandfather clock) was created to house the pendulum and works by the English clockmaker William Clement in 1670 or 1671 . It was also at this time that clock cases began to be made of wood and clock faces to utilize enamel as well as hand - painted ceramics . </P> <P> In 1670, William Clement created the anchor escapement, an improvement over Huygens' crown escapement . Clement also introduced the pendulum suspension spring in 1671 . The concentric minute hand was added to the clock by Daniel Quare, a London clockmaker and others, and the second hand was first introduced . </P>

Who built the first standing clock in england and when