first floor being reserved as the shopkeeper's housing. This was the case until roughly 1900. The second floor was the clock keepers living quarters, with the third floor housing the clock and related mechanism. The fourth floor houses the bells. Noted author and illustrator Frederick George Kitton produced several sketches of the Clock Tower and wrote a document detailing the history of building from construction round to the then present day (1901/1902). The Clock Tower is owned and operated by St Albans District Council. Bells and clock The Clock Tower contains two bells, one familiarly known as Gabriel and the Market bell. The Market bell was created by Richard Phelps in 1729 and has a diameter of just under 15 inches. Phelps also cast the original eight bells at the nearby Church of St Peter. The inscription around the waist of the bell reads "Thomas Robins, Mayor of St Albans, 1729." Gabriel is the larger of the two bells and is so named as result of the inscription on the bell "Missi De Celis Habeo Nomen Gabrielis" ("I am Heaven sent, in Gabriel's name"). Although the date of its construction is unknown, John Harris of the British Archaeological Association believed that it was cast 1335. Gabriels diameter is approximately 3 ft 10 in and it weighs roughly one ton. Gabriel would have been rung at approximately 4 am to mark the Angelus, and again at 8–9 pm for the curfew. In addition, the bells could also be run in the event of emergencies, this could be something as simple as a fire, or as historic as the First Battle of St Albans. It is unknown when the clock was installed in the tower, and in general clocks at the time were a rare occurrence - the oldest known clock in the United Kingdom was found in a clock tower in Westminster built in 1288. Richard of Wallingford, the 29th abbot of St Albans designed an astronomical clock, which was built approximately 20 years after his death. The Tower was referred to as the "Clokkehouse" in 1412 shortly after the Tower was built. It is unknown however if this referred to a physical clock, or the fact that the bells rung on the hour. A clock is known to have existed in 1485; when it was mentioned on a lease to a tenant. It was the tenant's job to ensure the