Thornton, Philip

Philip Thornton (1901–1975), born in Great Haywood, Stafford, was a horologist and a manufacturer of milling cutters for clock wheels and pinions. He was also an accomplished clock maker, designer and engraver. In the 1930s and 1940s he was engaged mainly in clock making and restoration, becoming an expert at the repeating mechanisms used by Tompion and his contemporaries. He made striking longcase clocks in Knibb’s style, and after the Second World War, in collaboration with Frodsham & Company, he made hump back carriage clocks with perpetual calendar in the style of Breguet, the first of which was presented to HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. His last creation was a Roman numeral striking clock, intended to be the first of a new series.

View collection: THO - THORNTON, PHILIP

For Philip Thornton’s obituaries by R.J.L., see Horological Journal (December 1975), pp. 35-36 and Antiquarian Horology vol. 9 no. 5 (December 1975), p. 562.