Birch Memorial Clock Tower

The Birch Memorial Clock Tower (Menara Jam Peringatan Birch) 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: The Iron Age: The Early Eastern Peoples :
 * A Hunter, A Fisherman, A Woman spinning.
 * A man and a woman
 * 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: The Far East: Greece and Rome:
 * Moses, David, A Phoenician, A woman representing the Aegean civilization.
 * Confucius, Buddha, Lao Tzu.
 * A woman representing Greek Art, Alexander the Great, Plato, Augustus.

Panel C (South)

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