<P> The next development in accuracy occurred after 1656 with the invention of the pendulum clock . Galileo had the idea to use a swinging bob to regulate the motion of a time - telling device earlier in the 17th century . Christiaan Huygens , however , is usually credited as the inventor . He determined the mathematical formula that related pendulum length to time ( about 99.4 cm or 39.1 inches for the one second movement ) and had the first pendulum - driven clock made . The first model clock was built in 1657 in the Hague , but it was in England that the idea was taken up . The longcase clock ( also known as the grandfather clock ) was created to house the pendulum and works by the English clockmaker William Clement in 1670 or 1671 . It was also at this time that clock cases began to be made of wood and clock faces to utilize enamel as well as hand - painted ceramics . </P>
who built the first standing clock in england and when
English clockmaker William Clement in 1670 or 1671