Mantel Clocks.

It was commonplace to set these clocks on a "mantelpiece", which is where the name comes from. 

It became customary around 1835 to place matching ornaments either side of the mantel clocks.  These remained popular throughout the nineteenth century. 

It is easy to distinguish English mantel clocks from French ones. English examples mainly have superb mechanisms and graced most studies and libraries. 

Pendulum Clocks.
  

The knowledge of pendulums was taken to Britain by a London clockmaker maker. Huygens himself (the inventor) took the knowledge to France. Huygens (with his patent) visited Paris where he allowed several clock makers to produce table clocks with his pendulum mechanism. But, the British who saw the real value of his invention and used it extensively. This formed the foundation for the leading role English antique clocks were later to take. 

After the invention of the pendulum mechanism, the cases of most clocks changed from metal to wood. The outward appearance of clocks in the two most important clock-making countries of England and France went in different directions. The French "standardized" the size of the pendulum mechanism and because of this, the French antique clock cases were always consistent with major developments of style. 

Because the whole process was kept in the hands of the clock-maker in England and not standardized, English antique clocks tend to run about 25 years behind the development of styles. This did not change until the end of the eighteenth century.

There are other differences between French and English antique pendulum clocks also. The French produced large numbers of table and bracket clocks while the English preferred hand-made clocks and watches. The face of English clocks remained fairly rectangular while from 1715 onwards the French standardized with round ones.

Antique Longcase Clocks.

Soon after the development of the pendulum clock the English introduced the antique longcase clock, with a tall wooden case designed to protect the pendulum. The first longcase clocks had short pendulums but soon after longer pendulums became the norm. 

Early (or antique grandfather type) longcase clocks were designed along classical lines. Early clocks had opening upper cases for winding the clock but as the clocks became taller after 1710 they had a lower door for this purpose. French makers surpassed the English longcase clocks after 1730.   

The term 'bracket clock' is derived from the wall-mounting bracket that some of these clocks had even though most were made so they could stand on furniture. Most English bracket clocks that found their way abroad were made in London. Provincial clocks were largely for local sale.