The Ivanhoe Clock in Leeds, England

Most Popular PlacesRandom PlaceListsItinerariesAdd a PlaceDownload the App The Ivanhoe Clock Wild Bird Petroglyph First Bank of Murphy The People’s Treasure Is Alton, Illinois America’s Most Haunted Small Town? 2 days ago 14 Real Places That Haunt the Pages of Literature 4 days ago Since 1877, the characters of Sir Walter Scott’s “Ivanhoe” have been keeping time in this Leeds arcade. Automatons clock at Thornton’s Arcade Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User Check how the characters are protected Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User Automatons clock at Thornton’s Arcade Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User Check how the characters are protected Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User Automatons clock at Thornton’s Arcade Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User Check how the characters are protected Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User Automatons clock at Thornton’s Arcade Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User Automatons clock at Thornton’s Arcade Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User Check how the characters are protected Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User At one end of Thornton’s Arcade, beneath its elegant glass roof, four Victorian characters wait for their cue. When the clock strikes, Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Richard the Lionheart, and Gurth the Swineherd spring into action, raising their fists to strike a bell.

It is a wonderfully theatrical way to tell the time—and an unexpected spectacle in the middle of a shopping arcade. Installed in 1877, the clock was made by Leeds clockmakers William Potts & Sons, while the life-sized figures were created by local sculptor John Wormald Appleyard. Their subjects come from Sir Walter Scott’s _Ivanhoe_, the hugely popular 1819 novel that turned medieval England into a world of knights, outlaws, monks, and swineherds.

Richard the Lionheart and Friar Tuck strike the hours, while Robin Hood and Gurth mark the quarters. Five bells, supplied by John Taylor of Loughborough, provide the soundtrack. The figures are technically faux jacquemarts: moving clockwork figures that appear to strike a bell, although the real bells are operated inside the mechanism.

Whatever the technical distinction, watching four life-sized medieval characters punch the air to mark the time is considerably more entertaining than checking your phone. Thornton’s Arcade opened in May 1878 as Leeds’s first purpose-built shopping arcade. Today, its ornate architecture, independent shops, and eccentric clock offer a charming reminder that Victorian shopping could come with considerably more spectacle than window displays.

Get more unusual and extraordinary places each week with the Atlas Obscura Places newsletter. Your newsletter subscriptions with us are subject to Atlas Obscura's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Three mechanical figures—a soldier, a sailor, and Father Time—announce the time on this local landmark.

Ciudad Real's former town hall found new life in 2005 when the chime clock with automatons was installed. After decades of damage, this feat of timekeeping and automaton art has been given a new lease on life. This arcade is one of the last places to catch a public performance by the now-defunct ShowBiz Pizza's house band of animatronic animals.