The carillon originated from two earlier functions of bells: ringing bells to send messages and ringing bells to indicate the time of day. In the Middle Ages, bellringers attached ropes to the clappers of swinging bells and rung them while stationary in a technique called chiming. In the 14th century, the newly developed escapement technology for mechanical clocks spread throughout European clock towers and gradually replaced the water clock. Since the earliest clocks lacked faces, they announced the time by striking a bell a number of times corresponding to the current hour. As late as 1510, these two functions were combined into one primitive carillon in the Oudenaarde Town Hall.