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Hornsby Water Clock

The Hornsby Water Clock, titled Man, Time and the Environment, is a kinetic sculpture, decorative fountain and occasional clock in the Florence Street pedestrian mall in Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia. Unveiled in 1993, it was designed and engineered by Victor Cusack and built by Victor with his foundry floor manager Rex Feakes. The work is made of bronze, stainless steel and glass. Its construction, including changes to the mall, cost over A$1 million and took two and a half years. After years of breakdowns caused by discarded items, the water filtration system was upgraded, and by 2026 many moving parts had been fixed still, so it no longer tells time.

Hornsby Water Clock fountain sculpture with gears, pipes, and cascading water in a plaza
The Hornsby Water Clock fountain sculpture in an open plaza, with water flowing from its intricate metal forms.
© · Public domain
Close-up of the Hornsby Water Clock face with brass hands, bronze letters, and decorative animal figures around the rim.
A close view of the Hornsby Water Clock, showing its circular face, brass hands, and ornate decorative detailing.
May 2018 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hornsby Water Clock with central jets of water and large green wheel-like elements.
The Hornsby Water Clock with water jets streaming through its sculptural mechanism.
June 2019 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bronze commemorative plaque for the Hornsby Water Sculpture mounted on a textured wall.
Commemorative plaque for the Hornsby Water Sculpture, mounted on a textured wall in Hornsby.
May 2020 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bronze Hornsby Water Clock plaque with raised text and a diagram of a clepsydra mechanism.
Plaque 2 of the Hornsby Water Clock, describing the Greek clepsydra and the clock mechanism.
December 2007 © · Public domain

Identification

TitleHornsby Water Clock
Alternative titleMan, Time and the Environment
Typekinetic sculpture; decorative fountain; water clock

Location and ownership

LocationFlorence Street pedestrian mall, Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia
CountryAustralia
Specific later locationnear the Westfield shopping centre in Hornsby
Mounted ona floating pontoon

Historical context

Historical prototypebased on a model by Su Song, who built a clock for his observatory around 1088–1092
Pendulum clock design sourcebased on an unbuilt design drawn up by Claude Perrault in 1669
Claimed statussaid to be the largest water-powered pendulum clock ever built
Unveiled1993
Construction costover A$1 million

Creator

Rex Feakes rolefoundry floor manager
Constructed byVictor Cusack and Rex Feakes
DesignerVictor Cusack

Physical characteristics

Heightapproximately 8 m
Weight20 t
Pendulum weight350 kg
Water wheel diameter2.3 m
Carillon17 bells, about 1 tonne total weight, with a metal frame

Materials

Water clock mechanisma meniscus-full overflow tank feeds a fixed vessel; excess water drains off while the water level remains constant and the water flowing into a second vessel measures time
Carillon materialcast bell bronze
Materialsbronze, stainless steel, and glass

History and restoration

Removalremoved in the early 2000s during renovation of the nearby Westfield shopping centre
Damage during removaldamaged during removal, which rendered the clock inoperable
Legal actionin 2005, Cusack successfully sued the council to maintain the sculpture under his moral rights as creator
Condition by 2015the sculpture had again fallen into disrepair
Cusack's claim in 2015he said the council had neglected basic maintenance
Reason for lawsuitCusack said its disrepair affected his artistic reputation
Council's response in 2015the council said the repair was not simple
Maintenance updatethe water filtration system was upgraded after the damage incidents
Construction durationtwo and a half years
Construction modificationsalterations to the mall were required during fabrication and installation
Operational issueschicken bones and other discarded items caused repeated breakdowns
Function as of 2026it no longer tells time
Condition as of 2026many moving parts had been repaired, but the sculpture was fixed in place, the water wheel movement was limited, and the pendulum was fixed to reduce wear and tear

Appearance

Explanation plaquesfour plaques are attached to the fountain
Overall compositionthree water-powered clocks and a 17-note bronze carillon, with a fourth time indicator based on a rotating floating pontoon
Tube decorationthe tubes are decorated with a head of Hermaphrodite
Counterweight decorationthe counterweight is shaped like a ram's head
Water wheel counterweighta Buddha sculpture
Plaque contentthree plaques explain the three clocks, and one explains the sculpture's overall message
Carillon sound rangefrom the octave above middle C plus three notes above to the G below

Iconography and meaning

Hour markingsthe hours are marked by the letters of 'Dare we forget'
Environmental statementa unique environmental statement about Hornsby's natural environment and the loss of species and habitats
Symbolismit contrasts human creativity with humans' growing inability to coexist with other life on Earth
Tributeit pays tribute to the beauty of the local environment
Depicted animalstawny frogmouth, rainbow lorikeet, pied cormorant, little penguin, Australian pelican, Australian water dragon, blue-tongued lizard, goanna, grey-headed flying fox, brushtail possum, sea eagle, and human
Aboriginal art formsincluded as a reminder of Hornsby's former strong Aboriginal population
Moral messageit calls for human responsibility toward other living beings

Technique

Seconds displaya glass wheel with 30 markings around the edge, moved by each 2-second half-cycle of the pendulum
Clocking mechanisma pointer sweeps past Roman numerals in the water around the fountain's perimeter as a fourth time indicator
Pontoon movementthe complete sculpture rotates clockwise in the basin, with the pontoon locking into 60 stops on the inner pond wall and being released every 12 minutes by the pendulum-driven mechanism
Top-drive operationwhen one side fills, it tips the mechanism so water drains and the second tank receives water below the sea eagle sculpture
Minute and hour movementthe minute hand moves once per minute and the hour hand once every 12 minutes
Second-wheel mechanisma cam on the second wheel releases 100 liters of water every 30 seconds
Pendulum clockwater-driven pendulum clock with a 4-second cycle, a 5 m pendulum mounted on a knife-edge, and a top-drive mechanism of moving glass chutes
Water wheel clocka wheel with 20 free-swinging counterweighted buckets that fill at a constant rate, tip when overbalanced, and trigger a release mechanism for the wheel to rotate
Counterweighted tubestwo tubes on bearings tip over when full, dump their contents into the basin, and return upright by counterweight
Carillon mechanism inspirationbased on a design by Harringtons of Coventry seen in a church in Haywards Heath, Sussex
Carillon playing modeautomatically strikes the hour and can also be played manually