Thomas Tompion (1639-1713), the greatest of English clockmakers was born the son of a blacksmith at Ickfield Green, Bedfordshire. It seems that he was trained, with his younger brother James, in the art of blacksmithing.

There is no record of Thomas Tompion serving as an apprentice in a clockmaker's workshop but on the 4^th September 1671 he was admitted to the Clockmakers' Company in London as a 'Brother'. He was described as a 'Great Clockmaker' which meant that at the time of his admission he specialised in the making of large turret clocks in iron. But the details of when he left Ickfield Green, where he went before arriving in London and how he changed from blacksmith to skilled clockmaker, remain a mystery.

On the 6^th April 1674 Thomas Tompion became a 'Free Clockmaker upon Redemption' and was now allowed to set up his own workshop and take apprentices. During this important year he was introduced to Robert Hooke and was commissioned by him to make a quadrant. This was subsequently demonstrated to the members of the Royal Society and much admired. It was thus that Tompion moved into an influential circle of people who were able to introduce him to the distinguished scientists of the day, the nobility and King Charles II.

Shortly after 1680 Tompion devised a numbering system for all the clocks and watches that he made and this was continued after his death by his successor George Graham. Clock number 168 can be dated to circa 1690 and is one of a small group of repeating clocks marking the transition between those referred to as Phase I, without subsidiary regulation and strike silent dials, and Phase II with the fully developed version of those dials. The subsidiary dials and mock pendulum enabled the clock to be started and regulated for timekeeping without having to move it. This was a significant technical advance and would have been much appreciated by owners anxious not to cause damage or disturb the timekeeping of the clock. The foliate lower spandrels to the dial are very unusual for Tompion and appear on a very few clock at around this date only and include No.161 and No.166, both of which are also transitional clocks.