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Clock tower in London, England

Elizabeth Tower
Clock Tower - Palace of Westminster, London - May 2007.jpg

Big Ben in 2007
Alternative names Large Ben
General data
Type Clock tower
Architectural style Gothic Revival
Location Westminster, London, England
Coordinates 51°30′03″N 0°07′28″West  /  51.5007°N 0.1245°W  / 51.5007; -0.1245 Coordinates: 51°30′03″North 0°07′28″W  /  51.5007°Due north 0.1245°W  / 51.5007; -0.1245
Completed 31 May 1859; 162 years ago  (31 May 1859)
Tiptop 316 feet (96 one thousand)
Technical details
Floor count eleven
Pattern and structure
Architect Augustus Pugin

Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bong of the hitting clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England,[1] although the name is ofttimes extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower.[2] The official name of the tower in which Big Ben is located was originally the Clock Belfry, but it was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012, to marker the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth 2.

The belfry was designed by Augustus Pugin in a neo-Gothic style. When completed in 1859, its clock was the largest and about authentic 4-faced striking and chiming clock in the world.[3] The tower stands 316 anxiety (96 yard) tall, and the climb from ground level to the tower is 334 steps. Its base is square, measuring 40 feet (12 m) on each side. Dials of the clock are 22.5 feet (6.nine k) in diameter. All four nations of the UK are represented on the tower on shields featuring a rose for England, thistle for Scotland, shamrock for Northern Ireland, and leek for Wales. On 31 May 2009, celebrations were held to mark the tower'southward 150th ceremony.[four]

Big Ben is the largest of the tower'due south 5 bells and weighs xiii.five long tons (13.seven tonnes; 15.1 brusque tons).[1] It was the largest bell in the United Kingdom for 23 years. The origin of the bong'south nickname is open up to question; it may be named later on Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw its installation, or heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt. Four quarter bells chime at fifteen, xxx and 45 minutes past the hour and only before Large Ben tolls on the hour. The clock uses its original Victorian machinery, but an electrical motor tin be used as a backup.

The tower is a British cultural icon recognised all over the world. Information technology is one of the most prominent symbols of the United Kingdom and parliamentary democracy,[5] and it is often used in the establishing shot of films set in London.[6] The clock tower has been office of a Form I listed edifice since 1970 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

On 21 August 2017, a iv-year schedule of renovation works began on the tower. Modifications take included calculation a lift, re-glazing and repainting the clock dials, and upgrading lighting and repairing roof tiles amongst other improvements. With a few exceptions, such as New Twelvemonth's Eve and Remembrance Sun, the bells are to be silent until the work is completed in 2022.[7]

Tower [edit]

Origin [edit]

Elizabeth Belfry, originally referred to equally the Clock Tower, but more popularly known as Big Ben,[8] was raised as a part of Charles Barry'southward blueprint for a new Palace of Westminster, after the former palace was largely destroyed by fire on sixteen Oct 1834.[nine] Although Barry was the chief builder of the neo-gothic palace, he turned to Augustus Pugin for the design of the Clock Tower, which resembles earlier Pugin designs, including one for Scarisbrick Hall in Lancashire.[10] Structure of the belfry began on 28 September 1845. The building contractors were Thomas Grissell and Morton Peto. An inscribed trowel at present in the Parliamentary Archives records that Emily, sister of Peto'southward daughter-in-law, was given the honour of laying the first rock.[11] It was Pugin'due south last design earlier his descent into mental illness and death in 1852, and Pugin himself wrote, at the time of Barry's last visit to him to collect the drawings: "I never worked and so difficult in my life for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all my designs for finishing his bell tower and information technology is beautiful".[12]

Pattern [edit]

Completed in 1859, the belfry is designed in Pugin's Gothic Revival fashion, and is 316 anxiety (96.3 m) high making it the tertiary tallest clock belfry in the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. Its dials (at the middle) are 180 feet (54.9 yard) above basis level. The belfry'south base is square, measuring 40 feet (12.2 chiliad) on each side,[xiii] resting on concrete foundations 12 feet (3.seven thousand) thick.[14] It was constructed using bricks clad on the exterior with sand-coloured Anston limestone from South Yorkshire, topped by a spire covered in hundreds of cast-iron rooftiles.[15] There is a spiral staircase with 290 stone steps up to the clock room, followed by 44 to achieve the belfry, and an additional 59 to the pinnacle of the spire.[13]

Above the belfry and Ayrton low-cal are 52 shields decorated with national emblems of the 4 countries of the UK: the red and white rose of England's Tudor dynasty, the thistle of Scotland, shamrock of Northern Republic of ireland, and leek of Wales. They besides feature the pomegranate of Catherine of Aragon, first wife of the Tudor king Henry VIII; the portcullis, symbolising both Houses of Parliament;[sixteen] and fleurs-de-lis, a legacy from when English monarchs claimed to rule French republic.[17]

A ventilation shaft running from ground level upwards to the belfry, which measures 16 feet (4.nine m) by viii feet (2.4 m), was designed by David Boswell Reid, known as "the grandfather of ac". It was intended to draw cool, fresh air into the Palace of Westminster; in practice this did non work and the shaft was repurposed as a chimney, until around 1914.[18] The 2017–2021 conservation works included the addition of a elevator (or lift) that was installed in the shaft.[19]

Its foundations rest on a layer of gravel, below which is London clay.[14] Owing to this soft ground, the tower leans slightly to the northward-west by roughly 230 mm (9.ane in) over 55 m height, giving an inclination of approximately 1⁄240 . This includes a planned maximum of 22 mm increased tilt due to tunnelling for the Jubilee line extension.[20] In the 1990s, thousands of tons of concrete were pumped into the basis underneath the tower to stabilise it during construction of the Westminster section of the Jubilee line.[21] It leans by about 500 mm (20 in) at the finial. Experts believe the tower's lean will non be a trouble for another 4,000 to ten,000 years.[22]

Proper noun [edit]

Journalists during Queen Victoria's reign called it St Stephen's Tower. As members of Parliament originally sat at St Stephen's Hall, these journalists referred to anything related to the House of Commons as "news from St Stephens" (the Palace does comprise a feature called St Stephen'due south Tower, located to a higher place the public archway).[23] On 2 June 2012, the House of Commons voted in support of a proposal to alter the proper name from the Clock Belfry to Elizabeth Tower in celebration of Elizabeth II in her Diamond Jubilee year, since the large west belfry now known as Victoria Belfry had been renamed in tribute to Queen Victoria on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee.[24] On 26 June 2012, the House of Commons confirmed that the name change could get ahead.[25] David Cameron, and so Prime Minister, officially announced the change of name on 12 September 2012.[26] The change was marked by a naming ceremony in which John Bercow, then Speaker of the House of Commons, unveiled a plaque attached to the tower on the bordering Speaker'due south Green.[27]

Prison house Room [edit]

Inside the tower is an oak-panelled Prison Room, which tin can only be accessed from the House of Eatables, not via the belfry archway. It was final used in 1880 when atheist Charles Bradlaugh, newly elected Member of Parliament for Northampton, was imprisoned by the Serjeant at Arms after he protested against swearing a religious adjuration of fidelity to Queen Victoria.[28] Officially, the Serjeant at Arms tin can still brand arrests, as they take had the authority to do since 1415. The room, however, is currently occupied by the Petitions Committee, which oversees petitions submitted to Parliament.[29]

Ayrton Calorie-free [edit]

A new feature was added in 1873 past Acton Smee Ayrton, then Get-go Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings. The Ayrton Low-cal is a lantern sited higher up the belfry and is lit whenever the Firm of Eatables sits afterward nighttime. It tin can exist seen from across London. Originally, it shone towards Buckingham Palace so Queen Victoria could look out of a window and meet when the Eatables were at work.[30]

Clock [edit]

Dials [edit]

1 dial as it looked in 2014

Augustus Pugin drew inspiration from the clockmaker Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy when he designed the dials. Each is made of cast fe sections bolted together. The whole frame is 22.five feet (6.9 1000) in diameter making them the 3rd largest in the United kingdom. They each contain 324 pieces of opalescent drinking glass.[31] Originally, the dials were backlit using gas lamps, at offset merely when Parliament was sitting, but they take routinely been illuminated from dusk until dawn since 1876. Electric bulbs were installed at the beginning of the 20th century.[32] The ornate surrounds of the dials are gilt. At the base of each punch is the Latin inscription DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM , which means "O Lord, continue safe our Queen Victoria the Offset".[33] Unlike many Roman numeral clock dials, which evidence the "4" position as IIII, the Peachy Clock faces draw "4" as 4.[34] The clock'southward gun metal hour hands and copper minute hands are eight.75 anxiety (ii.7 chiliad) and xiv feet (iv.3 1000) long respectively.[35]

When completed, the frame and hands were Prussian bluish, merely were painted blackness in the 1930s to disguise the furnishings of air pollution. The original colour scheme was reinstated during the 2017–2021 conservation piece of work. Information technology was constitute that no fewer than 6 dissimilar colour schemes had been used over the past 160 years.[36] The Victorian glass was also removed and replaced with faithful reproductions fabricated in Germany by glassmakers Glasfabrik Lamberts.[37]

Move [edit]

The interior of the clock face

The clock's movement is known for its reliability. The designers were the lawyer and apprentice horologist Edmund Beckett Denison, and George Airy, the Astronomer Royal. Construction was entrusted to clockmaker Edward John Dent; after his death in 1853 his stepson Frederick Dent completed the work, in 1854.[38] Every bit the belfry was non completed until 1859, Denison had time to experiment: instead of using a deadbeat escapement and remontoire as originally designed, he invented a double three-legged gravity escapement, which provides the best separation between pendulum and clock mechanism, thus mitigating the effects of rain, air current and snow on the dials.[39] Dent never patented his design, and it quickly became the standard on all new high-quality tower clocks.[twoscore]

Winding the clock machinery

On top of the pendulum is a minor stack of pre-decimal penny coins; these are to adjust the fourth dimension of the clock. Adding a coin has the effect of minutely lifting the position of the pendulum'due south center of mass, reducing the effective length of the pendulum rod and hence increasing the rate at which the pendulum swings. Adding or removing a penny will change the clock's speed by 0.four seconds per twenty-four hours.[41] It keeps fourth dimension to inside a few seconds per week.[42] Information technology is hand wound (taking about 1.5 hours) iii times a week. The Keeper of the Clock is responsible for looking afterward the movement in addition to overseeing every aspect of maintenance effectually the Palace. A squad of horologists are on call 24 hours a day to attend to the clock in the event of an emergency.[43]

On 10 May 1941, a High german bombing raid damaged two of the clock's dials and sections of the tower'due south stepped roof and destroyed the Business firm of Eatables chamber. Architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed a new five-floor block. Two floors are occupied by the current bedroom, which was used for the commencement time on 26 October 1950. The clock ran accurately and chimed throughout the Rush.[44]

Breakdowns and other incidents [edit]

19th century [edit]

Before 1878: The clock stopped for the start time in its history, "through a heavy fall of snow" on the hands of a clock face.[45] [46]

21 August 1877 – January 1878: The clock was stopped for iii weeks to let the tower and mechanism to be cleaned and repaired. The one-time escape bicycle was replaced.[45]

20th century [edit]

Feb 1900: The heavy build-upwards of snow on a clock face impeded the progress of the hour hand, causing the clock to stop for well-nigh viii hours.[47]

1916: For two years during World War I, the bells were silenced and the clock faces were not illuminated at night to avert guiding attacking High german Zeppelins.[48]

29 December 1927: Snow build-up on a clock face stopped the clock.[49]

Wintertime 1928: Heavy snow stopped the clock for several hours.[47]

ii April 1934: The clock stopped from 7:16 a.m. to ane:15 pm, when it was repaired.[l]

23 September 1936: A painter painting the inside of the clock room placed a ladder against a shaft driving the easily, stopping the clock from viii:47 to ten am.[47]

i September 1939: Although the bells continued to ring, the clock faces were not illuminated at night throughout World State of war II to avoid guiding bomber pilots during the Blitz.[48]

10 May 1941: A German bombing raid damaged two of the clock'southward dials.

3–4 June 1941: The clock stopped from 10:13 p.thousand. until x:13 the following forenoon, subsequently a workman repairing air-raid damage to the clock face left a hammer too close to the machinery.[51] [47]

25–26 Jan 1945: Extremely cold temperatures froze the prophylactic bushings on the quarter-bong hammers, preventing the chimes sounding from 9 p.k. on the 25th to 9 p.thousand. the following evening; the BBC broadcast the pips in the interval.[47]

28 Jan 1947: The safety bushings on the quarter bell hammers again froze before the clock sounded midnight, muting the chimes, though the problem was resolved by the morning time.[47]

12 August 1949: The clock slowed by iv and a half minutes after a flock of starlings perched on the minute hand.[52] [47]

13 January 1955: The clock stopped at 3:24 a.m. due to drifts of snow forming on the north and due east dials. Pocket-size electric heaters were placed only inside these two dials, and this measure has helped to reduce instances of freezing in recent years.[47]

18 July 1955: The rope operating the striking hammer broke, silencing the clock from 10 a.m. to five pm.[47]

New year's day's Eve 1962: The clock slowed due to heavy snowfall and ice on the hands, causing the pendulum to detach from the clockwork, as it is designed to do in such circumstances, to avoid serious harm elsewhere in the mechanism – the pendulum continuing to swing freely. Thus, it chimed-in the 1963 new year nine minutes late.[53]

30 January 1965: The bells were silenced during the funeral of statesman and former prime minister Winston Churchill.[54]

9 January 1968: Snow buildup on the clock faces blocked the hands from moving, stopping the clock from half-dozen:28 to 10:10 am.[47]

5 Baronial 1976: The air restriction speed regulator of the chiming mechanism broke from torsional fatigue later more than 100 years of utilise, causing the fully wound four-ton weight to spin the winding drum out of the move, causing much damage. The Great Clock was shut down for a total of 26 days over ix months – it was reactivated on 9 May 1977. This was the longest break in performance since its structure. During this fourth dimension BBC Radio iv broadcast the pips instead.[55] Although in that location were minor stoppages from 1977 to 2002, when maintenance of the clock was carried out by the old firm of clockmakers Thwaites & Reed, these were often repaired inside the permitted two-hour downtime and not recorded as stoppages. Earlier 1970, maintenance was carried out by the original firm of Dents; since 2002, by parliamentary staff.

March 1986 and Jan 1987: The problem of the rubber bushings on the quarter bell chimes freezing recurred, muffling the chimes.[47]

thirty April 1997: The clock stopped 24 hours before the general ballot, and stopped again three weeks later.[56]

21st century [edit]

Cleaning of the south clock face on eleven August 2007

27 May 2005: The clock stopped at 10:07 pm, possibly because of hot weather; temperatures in London had reached an unseasonable 31.8 °C (90 °F). It resumed, but stopped again at 10:20 pm, and remained still for about 90 minutes before resuming.[56]

29 October 2005: The machinery was stopped for about 33 hours to allow maintenance work on the clock and its chimes. It was the lengthiest maintenance shutdown in 22 years.[57]

seven:00 a.m on 5 June 2006: The clock tower's "Quarter Bells" were taken out of commission for iv weeks[58] as a bearing holding one of the quarter bells was worn and needed to be removed for repairs. During this period, BBC Radio 4 broadcast recordings of British bird song followed by the pips in identify of the usual chimes.[59]

eleven Baronial 2007: Get-go of 6-calendar week stoppage for maintenance. Bearings in the clock's chinkle train and the "dandy bell" striker were replaced, for the kickoff time since installation.[60] During the maintenance the clock was driven by an electric motor.[61] One time once again, BBC Radio 4 circulate the pips during this time. The intention was that the clock should run accurately for a further 200 years before major maintenance is again required; in fact the repairs sufficed for ten years.[62]

17 April 2013: The bells were silenced as a mark of "profound dignity and deep respect" during the funeral of former Prime number Minister Margaret Thatcher.[63]

August 2015: Maintenance crews discovered the clock to exist running vii seconds fast. They removed coins from its pendulum to correct the error, which acquired it to run tiresome for a menses.[64]

21 August 2017: Kickoff of an ongoing, iv-year silencing of the chimes during maintenance and repair work to the clock mechanism, and repairs and improvements to the clock tower building. During this time, dials, hands, and lights were removed for restoration, with at least one dial – with its hands driven by an electric motor – left intact, functioning, and visible at any given time. A elevator was also installed during this renovation.[65] [66]

Bells [edit]

Great Bell [edit]

The chief bong, officially known as the Great Bell but better known equally Big Ben, is the largest bell in the belfry and part of the Great Clock of Westminster. It sounds an E-natural.[67]

The original bell was a sixteen ton (16.3-tonne) hour bell, bandage on half-dozen August 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees by John Warner & Sons.[1] Information technology is thought that the bong was originally to be chosen Victoria or Regal Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria, simply that an MP suggested the bell's electric current nickname of "Big Ben" during a Parliamentary debate; the comment is not recorded in Hansard.[68]

Since the tower was not yet finished, the bell was mounted in New Palace Thou but, during testing, it cracked across repair and a replacement had to be made. The bell was recast on 10 Apr 1858 at the Whitechapel Bong Foundry every bit a 13.five-ton (xiii.76-tonne) bell.[1] [69] The second bong was transported from the foundry to the belfry on a trolley fatigued by sixteen horses, with crowds auspicious its progress; information technology was and then pulled 200 ft (61.0 m) upwards to the Clock Tower'due south belfry, a feat that took 18 hours. Information technology is seven feet 6 inches (2.29 1000) tall and 9 feet (2.74 m) diameter. This new bell first chimed in July 1859; in September it too cracked under the hammer. Co-ordinate to the foundry's manager, George Mears, the horologist Denison had used a hammer more than than twice the maximum weight specified.[1] For three years Big Ben was taken out of commission and the hours were struck on the lowest of the quarter bells until it was repaired. To make the repair, a square slice of metal was chipped out from the rim around the crack, and the bell given an 8th of a turn so the new hammer struck in a unlike place.[1] Big Ben has chimed with a slightly different tone ever since, and is still in employ today with the crevice unrepaired. Big Ben was the largest bell in the British Isles until "Great Paul", a sixteen.75-ton (17 tonne) bong currently hung in St Paul's Cathedral, was cast in 1881.[seventy]

In August 2007, the bong's striker was replaced for the kickoff time since installation.[60]

Nickname [edit]

The origin of the nickname Big Ben is the subject of some contend. The nickname was applied start to the Neat Bell; it may have been named afterward Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw the installation of the Great Bell, or after English language heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt.[one] [71] [72] Now Big Ben is often used, by extension, to refer to the clock, the tower and the bell collectively, although the nickname is not universally accepted as referring to the clock and tower.[73] Some authors of works almost the tower, clock and bell sidestep the outcome by using the words Big Ben first in the championship, then going on to clarify that the subject of the volume is the clock and tower likewise every bit the bell.[55] [74]

Chimes [edit]

Along with the Great Bell, the tower houses four quarter bells which play the Westminster Quarters on the quarter hours. The iv quarter bells sound G ♯ , F ♯ , East, and B. They were cast by John Warner & Sons at their Crescent Foundry in 1857 (G ♯ , F ♯ and B) and 1858 (E). The Foundry was in Jewin Crescent, in what is now known as The Barbican, in the Urban center of London.[75] The bells are sounded past hammers pulled by cables coming from the link room—a low-ceiling infinite betwixt the clock room and the tower—where mechanisms translate the motility of the quarter train into the sounding of the individual bells.[15]

The quarter bells play a once-repeating, 20-note sequence of rounds and four changes in the key of Eastward major: 1–four at quarter past, five–12 at one-half by, 13–xx and 1–4 at quarter to, and 5–20 on the hour (which sounds 25 seconds earlier the chief bell tolls the hour). Because the depression bell (B) is struck twice in quick succession, there is non enough time to pull a hammer back, and it is supplied with 2 wrench hammers on contrary sides of the bell. The tune is that of the Cambridge Chimes, first used for the chimes of Bully St Mary's church, Cambridge, and supposedly a variation, attributed to William Crotch, based on violin phrases from the air "I know that my Redeemer liveth" in Handel'due south Messiah.[76] [77] The notional words of the chime, again derived from Great St Mary's and in turn an allusion to Psalm 37:23–24, are: "All through this 60 minutes/Lord be my guide/And past Thy ability/No foot shall slide".[78] They are written on a plaque on the wall of the clock room.[79]

One of the requirements for the clock was that the first stroke of the 60 minutes bong should be right to within one second per solar day. The tolerance is with reference to Greenwich Mean Time (BST in summer).[eighty] So, at twelve o'clock, for example, it is the first of the twelve hour-bell strikes that signifies the hour (the New year's day on New Year's Eve at midnight). The fourth dimension signalled by the last of the "half dozen pips" (UTC) may exist fractionally different.

Cultural significance [edit]

The clock has become a cultural symbol of the United Kingdom, particularly in the visual media. When a television or film-maker wishes to indicate a generic location in the country, a pop way to do so is to show an image of the tower, often with a red double-decker motorcoach or black cab in the foreground.[81]

In 2008, a survey of 2,000 people found that the belfry was the most popular landmark in the United Kingdom.[82] It has likewise been named as the well-nigh iconic motion-picture show location in London.[83]

The sound of the clock chiming has likewise been used this way in sound media; the Westminster Quarters are imitated by other clocks and other devices, just the sound of Big Ben is preferred as the original and all-time. Big Ben is a focal point of New Year celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and television receiver stations airing its chimes to welcome the start of the New Year. To welcome in 2012, the clock tower was lit with fireworks that exploded at every toll of Big Ben.[84] Similarly, on Remembrance Twenty-four hour period, the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast to marker the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th calendar month and the beginning of the two minutes' silence.[85] The chimes of Big Ben have as well been used at the country funerals of monarchs on three occasions: firstly, at the funeral of Male monarch Edward VII in 1910, when Large Ben chimed 68 times, i stroke for each year of the monarch's life; secondly, at the funeral of King George V in 1936 (70 strokes); and finally, at the funeral of King George 6 in 1952 (56 strokes).[86]

Londoners who live an advisable distance from the tower and Big Ben tin, by ways of listening to the chimes both alive and on analogue radio, hear the bell strike thirteen times. This is possible because the electronically transmitted chimes arrive well-nigh instantaneously, while the "live" sound is delayed travelling through the air since the speed of sound is relatively slow.[87]

ITN'southward News at Ten opening sequence formerly featured an epitome of the tower with the audio of Large Ben's chimes punctuating the announcement of the news headlines of the day.[88] The Big Ben chimes (known within ITN equally "The Bongs") continue to be used during the headlines and all ITV News bulletins use a graphic based on the Westminster clock dial. Big Ben tin also exist heard striking the hour before some news bulletins on BBC Radio iv (half-dozen p.m. and midnight, plus 10 p.m. on Sundays) and the BBC World Service, a practice that began on 31 December 1923. The audio of the chimes is sent live from a microphone permanently installed in the tower and connected past line to Broadcasting House.[89]

At the close of the polls for the 2010 general election the results of the national exit poll were projected onto the south side of the belfry.[90] On 27 July 2012, starting at 8:12 a.g, Big Ben chimed 30 times, to welcome the Games of the 30th Olympiad, which officially began that day, to London.[91]

2017 renovation [edit]

Scaffolding erected in 2022 to permit worker access

On 21 August 2017, Big Ben's chimes were silenced for 4 years to allow essential restoration piece of work to exist carried out on the tower. The conclusion to silence the bells was made to protect the hearing of the workers on the tower, and drew much criticism from senior MPs and Prime Minister Theresa May.[92] The striking and tolling of the bells for of import occasions, such equally New Year's Eve and Remembrance Sunday, will be handled via an electric motor; and at least one of the four clock faces will ever remain visible during the restoration. Scaffolding was put up around the tower immediately subsequently the bells were silenced. The original cost of the projection to the taxpayers and creditors was estimated to be roughly £29 1000000, but this was and so more than doubled, to £69 million.[93] In February 2020, it was confirmed that the renovations had revealed that the Elizabeth Tower had sustained greater damage than originally thought in the May 1941 bombing raid that destroyed the adjacent House of Commons. Other plush discoveries included asbestos in the tower, the "extensive" use of lead paint, broken glass on the clock dials, and serious deterioration to the belfry's intricate rock carvings due to air pollution. The toll of addressing the new problems was estimated at £xviii.6 million, bringing the full budget for restoring the Elizabeth Belfry to well-nigh £80 million.[94] The additional renovation work was worked in to the projection and will be completed every bit well as the originally planned restoration work.[65]

The aim of the renovation is to repair and conserve the tower, upgrading facilities as necessary, and ensuring the tower'due south integrity for future generations. The final significant renovation piece of work to the tower was carried out in 1983–85. The 96-metre (315 ft) high structure is exposed to the elements, resulting in cracks and other impairment to the masonry and rust harm to the ironwork. The 2,567 cast-iron roof tiles accept been removed and refurbished, and a lift has been installed to make access easier, along with a basic washroom with running h2o. The Ayrton Calorie-free at the height of the tower, which is lit when Parliament is sitting, has besides been fully dismantled and restored along with the other lights in the Belfry, the lights being replaced with low-energy LEDs.[95] Ane of the most visible changes to the tower has been the restoration of the clock-face framework to its original colour of Prussian bluish, used when the tower was first congenital in 1859, with the blackness paint that was used to cover up the soot-stained punch frames now having been stripped abroad. The clock faces accept been regilded, and the shields of St George have been repainted in their original ruddy and white colours. The 1,296 pieces of glass that make up the clock faces have besides been removed and replaced.[96] [97]

After four years of renovations and restoration, it was appear on 23 Nov 2022 that the tower would emerge from behind its scaffolding in time for the ringing in of the new year.[98]

See also [edit]

  • Clock Tower - Palace of Westminster, London - May 2007 icon.png London portal
  • Big Ben Aden
  • Little Ben

References [edit]

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  2. ^ Fowler, p. 95.
  3. ^ Excell, Jon (5 July 2016). "Why is Large Ben falling silent?". BBC News.
  4. ^ "Join in the anniversary celebrations". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009.
  5. ^ "Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret's Church". UNESCO.
  6. ^ "Large Ben in films and popular culture". The Daily Telegraph. 8 November 2016. Archived from the original on 11 Jan 2022.
  7. ^ Fowler, Susanne (12 April 2021). "What Does It Accept to Hear Big Ben Over again? 500 Workers and a Hiding Place". The New York Times . Retrieved 15 Apr 2021.
  8. ^ "Large Ben 'bongs' to be silenced for £29m refurbishment". BBC News. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  9. ^ "1289-1834: Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower". United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland Parliament . Retrieved nine July 2014.
  10. ^ McKay, p. 45.
  11. ^ McKay, p. 46.
  12. ^ Hill, p. 482.
  13. ^ a b McKay, p. 266.
  14. ^ a b McKay, p. 201.
  15. ^ a b McKay, pp. 47–48.
  16. ^ "Portcullis". UK Parliament . Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Elizabeth Tower decorative shields: before and during the conservation". Great britain Parliament . Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  18. ^ McKay, p. 44.
  19. ^ "Large Ben: Lifts". U.k. Parliament. 9 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Tunnel Vision" (PDF). Post Study Summary. Parliamentary Office of Scientific discipline and Technology. January 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 Nov 2006.
  21. ^ McKay, p. 25.
  22. ^ "Clock ticking for leaning Large Ben". BBC News. 11 October 2011.
  23. ^ "Frequently asked questions: Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower". UK Parliament.
  24. ^ Hough, Andrew (ii June 2012). "The Queen'due south Diamond Jubilee: 'Big Ben to exist renamed Elizabeth Tower'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 Jan 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  25. ^ Rath, Kayte (26 June 2012). "Large Ben's tower renamed Elizabeth Tower in honor of Queen". BBC News.
  26. ^ "Questions to the Prime Minister". Business firm of Eatables Hansard Debates for 12 Sept 2012. Hansard. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  27. ^ "Elizabeth Tower naming ceremony". U G Parliament. 12 September 2012. Retrieved thirty April 2016.
  28. ^ McKay, p. 7.
  29. ^ "The Prison Room of Elizabeth Tower". Parliamentary Archives. 28 May 2020.
  30. ^ McKay, p.28.
  31. ^ "Great Clock facts". UK Parliament . Retrieved thirty Jan 2021.
  32. ^ McKay, pp. 121–129.
  33. ^ McKay, p. 11.
  34. ^ Good, P. 81.
  35. ^ McKay, pp. 266-267.
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Bibliography [edit]

  • Fowler, H. W. (1976). The Concise Oxford lexicon of current English language (6th ed.). Clarendon Press. ISBN978-0-19-861121-ix.
  • Skillful, Richard (1996). Victorian Clocks. British Museum Press. ISBN978-0-7141-0578-9.
  • Hill, Rosemary (2009). God's Architect: Pugin & the Edifice of Romantic Britain. Yale Academy Printing. ASIN B008W30TJO.
  • Lockyer, Herbert (1993). A Devotional Commentary on Psalms. Kregel Christian Books. ISBN978-0-8254-9742-1.
  • McKay, Chris (2010). Large Ben: the Not bad Clock and the Bells at the Palace of Westminster. Oxford University Printing. ISBN978-0-19-958569-four.
  • Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (2011). Big Ben. The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Macmillan. ISBN978-0-2307-3878-two.

External links [edit]

  • Official website of Big Ben at UK Parliament
  • The Palace of Westminster at UK Parliament
  • Big Ben at Whitechapel Bell Foundry
  • Big Ben's Clapper at Houghton-le-Leap Heritage Society
  • Interior photos of the tower at Britain Parliament's Flickr
  • "A tale of Two Towers: Large Ben and Pisa"—transcript of a lecture by Prof. John Burland

Videos [edit]

  • Within Big Ben's Makeover short film by the B1M
  • The Mechanical Genius of Large Ben (2017) documentary past Discovery
  • Big Ben'due south a Hundred (1959) newsreel by British Pathé
  • Big Ben's Make clean Up (1955) by British Pathé
  • Big Ben (1948) by British Pathé

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben

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