The Corpus Clock is the large gold disc with a mechanical insect on top at the corner of Bene't Street and King's Parade in Cambridge, set into the wall of Corpus Christi College. It has no hands and no numbers: blue lights show the time, while the creature on top, the Chronophage or 'time eater', seems to devour every passing minute. Stephen Hawking unveiled it in 2008.
The Corpus Clock at a glance
- Where: the corner of Bene't Street and King's Parade, in the entrance of a former bank built in 1867 for the London and County Bank, now part of Corpus Christi College.
- Unveiled: 19 September 2008, by its inventor John C. Taylor and Professor Stephen Hawking.
- By: John C. Taylor, inventor, Corpus alumnus and benefactor, who gave it to the college; built with Huxley Bertram, a Cambridge engineering firm that still maintains it.
- What it is today: a working public clock behind glass, visible from the street at any time.
- Time needed: 5–10 minutes; longer if you wait for the hour.
A clock about time running out
John C. Taylor made his name with the bimetallic thermostats that switch off electric kettles. He designed the clock as a tribute to John Harrison, the 18th-century clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer and the grasshopper escapement, the mechanism that lets a clock's power out in small, regular steps. Taylor put the escapement on the outside, as a large rocking creature with jaws, instead of hiding it in the case. The college believes it is the largest grasshopper escapement of any clock in the world.
The clock is deliberately unsettling. The pendulum sometimes seems to stall and the lights lag, then race to catch up. It has around 50 programmed 'tricks', with special sets for days such as New Year's Day, and it can run up to 10 per cent fast to catch up again, which is also how it handles the clock change. In March 2023 a vandal hit the protective glass with a hammer; the clock was taken out, the glass repaired and the clock reinstalled.
What to look for
- The Chronophage: the insect-like creature on top. Its mouth opens at 30 seconds past each minute, and now and then it blinks.
- The face: gold-plated steel, about one and a half metres across. Its ripples were made by a series of explosions in a vacuum and are meant to recall the Big Bang.
- The time: three rings of blue LEDs, 2,736 in all, shine through slits to mark the hour, minute and second. Compare it with your phone and watch it drift and correct itself.
- The pendulum inscription 'Joh. Sartor Monan Inv. MMVIII': John Taylor of the Isle of Man devised it in 2008.
- The Latin line below the clock, 'mundus transit et concupiscentia eius': the world and its desires pass away, from the First Letter of John.
- The hour: no bells. Instead you hear chains rattling and a hammer striking a wooden coffin.
Tips for your visit
- Arrive a few minutes before the hour to hear the chains and the coffin. A small crowd often gathers, so find a spot early.
- The pavement at the corner is narrow and King's Parade is busy with cyclists. Stand against the wall, or watch from the other side of Bene't Street.
- Glass reflections can spoil photos in bright sun; stand at a slight angle or come on a cloudy day or after dark, when the blue lights stand out.
- Combine the clock with King's College Chapel opposite and a drink at The Eagle round the corner.
Nearby
- King's College Chapel: the great late-Gothic chapel across King's Parade, famous for its fan vaulting and its choir.
- The Eagle: the pub on Bene't Street where Francis Crick and James Watson announced in 1953 that they had found the structure of DNA. Look for the Second World War airmen's graffiti on the ceiling of the back bar.
- St Bene't's Church: a few steps down Bene't Street, with an Anglo-Saxon tower that is the oldest standing building in Cambridge.
- Corpus Christi College: founded in 1352 by two town guilds; its Old Court, from the 14th century, is one of the oldest courts in Cambridge.
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Facts checked in October 2026.