A TIMEPIECE bearing the name of England's finest clockmaker Thomas Tompion has been sold at auction for £1,400 after being discovered in a house in Ross-on-Wye.
Fine art consultant Michael Winch nearly missed the Tompion connection because the great man's watch works had been mounted into a French-style brass carriage clock!
The British Museum was fascinated by Mr Winch's fantastic find and although it wasn't in pristine condition, experts made two visits to Gloucester to examine it.
When it came up for sale by the Cotswold Auction Company, however, a well-known collector nipped in at the last minute to buy the timepiece.
Nevertheless, the buyer is known to the museum and has said that he will lend the Tompion to the staff for research purposes.
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