The Birch Memorial Clock Tower () is a clock tower in Ipoh, Kinta District, Perak, Malaysia.

History The clock tower was constructed to commemorate James W. W. Birch, the first British Resident of the state of Perak and unveiled on 8 December 1909 at a cost of $25,000.

Architecture The clock tower is located in a square and originally held a bronze, portrait bust of J. W. W. Birch in a niche, since removed. Four panels illustrate the growth of civilization designed by Messrs. Doulton and Co. of London. It has a mother bell and four smaller bells which used to strike the chimes supplied by Messrs. Gillet and Johnson, Croydon. Above the clock are four statues at each corner representing the cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.

The growth of civilization There are four panels each one of the depicting the exponents of the different stages of civilization:

Panel A (North)

The Stone Age: A hunter A fisherman A woman spinning The Iron Age: A man and a woman The Early Eastern Peoples: A Nubian with gold and ivory A Chaldean astrologer A woman making pottery An Egyptian An Assyrian A Persian

Panel B (West)

The Eastern Mediterranean: Moses David A Phoenician A woman representing the Aegean civilization The Far East: Confucius Buddha Lao Tzu Greece and Rome: A woman representing Greek Art Alexander the Great Plato Augustus

Panel C (South)

The Byzantine Empire: Constantine the Great Islam: Muhammad (removed on 15 July 1958 because Islam prohibits visual depictions of the Prophet Mohammed) The Age of Chivalry: A Crusader The Age of Faith: Saint Clare of Assisi Gothic Art: Saint Thomas Aquinas The Renaissance: Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo, Vittoria Colonna, Columbus The Reformation: Martin Luther The Elizabethan Age: William Shakespeare

Panel D (East)

Modern Science, Art and Social Services:

Isaac Newton William Harvey James Watt An unnamed embroiderer Beethoven Robert Stephenson Louis Daguerre Florence Nightingale Charles Darwin Thomas Alva Edison Joseph Lister

See also List of tourist attractions in Perak

References