Museums · South East England
Deal Timeball
The Deal Timeball is a Victorian maritime Greenwich Mean Time signal located on the roof of a waterfront four-storey tower in the coastal town of Deal, in Kent, England. It was established in 1855 by
N Chadwick — CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 1.5 h–3 h
- Best time of year
- Year-round
- Family-friendly
- Limited wheelchair access
About
The Deal Timeball is a Victorian maritime Greenwich Mean Time signal located on the roof of a waterfront four-storey tower in the coastal town of Deal, in Kent, England. It was established in 1855 by the Astronomer Royal George Biddell Airy in collaboration with Charles V. Walker, superintendent of telegraphs for the South Eastern Railway Company. It was built by the Lambeth firm of engineers Maudslay and Field. The time ball, which, like the Greenwich time ball, fell at 1 pm precisely, and was triggered by an electric signal directly from the Royal Observatory.
Photo gallery
From the Wikipedia article
The Deal Timeball is a Victorian maritime Greenwich Mean Time signal located on the roof of a waterfront four-storey tower in the coastal town of Deal, in Kent, England. It was established in 1855 by the Astronomer Royal George Biddell Airy in collaboration with Charles V. Walker, superintendent of telegraphs for the South Eastern Railway Company. It was built by the Lambeth firm of engineers Maudslay and Field. The time ball, which, like the Greenwich time ball, fell at 1 pm precisely, and was triggered by an electric signal directly from the Royal Observatory.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
History
The Timeball Tower stands on the site of an earlier Shutter Telegraph. This early form of optical telegraphy was one of a chain of stations between the Admiralty in London and the Naval Yard at Deal. The telegraph line opened in 1796 and closed in 1814. Its purpose was to allow rapid communication between London and Deal, near the Downs as an important Naval anchorage during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1805 news of the naval victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson was brought to Deal by the schooner HMS Pickle (after calling at Falmouth), and transmitted by the telegraph to the Admiralty in London. From 1821 to 1831, the Tower carried a semaphore mast, another form of visual telegraphy…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 51.2219, 1.4042
- County
- Kent
- District
- Dover
- Parish
- Deal
- Postcode
- CT14 7BW
- Parliamentary constituency
- Dover and Deal
Sources
- wikipedia: Deal Timeball (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Deal Timeball?
- Deal Timeball is in South East England, in the United Kingdom — coordinates 51.2219°, 1.4042°.
- Is Deal Timeball wheelchair accessible?
- Partially — OpenStreetMap notes limited wheelchair access at Deal Timeball. Check ahead for specific facilities.