The cabinet
Six drawers. Open one.
Florence Pell kept watch parts in this cabinet for fifty-one years. Now it holds the favourites. Pull a drawer, then pick up what is inside to see it properly.
Escape puts things back
The scale walk
From the room to a grain of rice
1 metreThe Long Room. Case twelve stands in the middle, under the lamp.
10 centimetresInside the case: a velvet bed, a reading glass, a pair of tweezers and a small white dish.
1 centimetreOn the dish: a sewing needle, one human hair and a single grain of rice.
1 millimetreThe grain. In 1958 someone wrote a letter on it with a brush made from one hair.
The shop
A jeweller kept everything small.
Florence Pell mended watches at 14 Clockmaker's Row from 1945 to 1996. People brought her broken things and, often, a small treasure to look at under her loupe. She kept them in the drawers meant for springs and screws.
When she retired, the town bought the shop as it stood and opened the drawers to anyone who wanted to look. The bench, the lamp and the clock over the door are hers.
Visit
One room, forty-five minutes.
Checking the clock
- Wednesday10 to 5
- Thursday10 to 8, lamp-lit after 5
- Friday10 to 5
- Saturday10 to 5
- Sunday12 to 5
- Monday and TuesdayClosed for dusting
Getting here
14 Clockmaker's Row, Hatchmere. Look for the clock over the door. It still runs, three minutes fast, as it always has.
Seeing well
Every case has a magnifier, and there are hand loupes at the desk. Large-print placards on request. Step-free through the side door on Bell Lane.
Small print
The room holds twelve people at a time, so entry is timed. Children under 16 come with a grown-up.
Timed tickets
Pick a day, a time and who is coming. The machine prints your stub.
This museum is fictional, so no payment is taken and the stub is a keepsake.