Big Ben

:For other uses of Big Ben, see Big Ben (disambiguation)

History and construction

The Clock Tower

The tower was raised as a part of Charles Barry's design of a new palace, after the old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire on the night of October 16, 1834. The tower is designed in the Victorian Gothic style, and is 96.3 m (316 ft) high.

Related Topics:
Charles Barry - Palace of Westminster - October 16 - 1834 - Victorian Gothic

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The 61 m (200 ft) tower consists of brickwork with stone cladding; the remainder of the tower's height is accounted for by a framed spire of cast iron. The tower is founded on a 15 by 15 m (49 by 49 ft) raft, made of 3 m (9 ft) thick concrete, at a depth of 7 m (23 ft) below ground level. The tower has an estimated weight of 8,667 t. The four clock faces are 55 m (180 ft) above ground.

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Due to ground conditions present since construction, the tower leans slightly to the north-west, by roughly 220 mm. It also oscillates annually by a few millimetres east and west, due to thermal effects. http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/template.cfm?name=BA5

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The clock and its faces

The clock in the tower was once the biggest in the world, able to strike the first blow for each hour with an accuracy of one second. The clock mechanism was completed by 1854, but the tower was not fully constructed until four years later.

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The clock faces and dials were designed by Augustus Pugin. It is an iron framework 23 feet in diameter supporting 312 pieces of opal glass, rather like a stained glass window. Some of the glass pieces may be removed for inspection of the hands. The surround of the dials is heavly gilded. At the base of each clock face in gilt letters is the Latin inscription 'DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM' which means 'Lord save our Queen Victoria I'.

Related Topics:
Augustus Pugin - Latin - Queen Victoria I

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The name Big Ben was first given to a 16-ton hour bell, cast in 1856. Since the tower was not yet finished, the bell was mounted in New Palace Yard but the bell cracked under the striking hammer, and its metal was recast as the 13.8 ton bell which is in use today. The new bell was mounted in the tower in 1858 alongside four quarter-hour bells.

Related Topics:
1856 - New Palace Yard - 1858

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On September 7, 1859, the clock became fully operational. Less than a month later, the hour bell developed a crack due to the strain of being struck repeatedly by the hammer (the same hammer which broke its predecessor). For two years, the largest of the quarter bells was used as a substitute. Then the hour bell was rotated so that the hammer no longer came into contact with the cracked surface, and the bell became operational again in 1862.

Related Topics:
September 7 - 1859 - 1862

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The mechanisms of the clock and chimes have been overhauled several times since then.

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The Great Bell of Westminster

The bell weighs 13.762 t (13 tons 10 cwt 99 lb or 30,339 lb), with a striking hammer weighing 203 kg (4 cwt), and was originally tuned to E. There is delay of 5 seconds between strikes. It is a common misconception that Big Ben is the heaviest bell in Britain. In fact, it is the third heaviest, the second heaviest being Great George found at Liverpool Cathedral at 14 tons 15 cwt 2 qtr 2 lb (33,098 lb or 15.013 t) and the heaviest being Great Paul found at St Paul's Cathedral at 16 tons 14 cwt 2 qtr 19 lb (37,483 lb or 17.002 t).

Related Topics:
13.762 - T - E - Liverpool Cathedral - St Paul's Cathedral

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The original tower designs demanded a 14-ton bell to be struck with a 6-cwt (300-kg) hammer. A bell was produced by John Warner and Sons in 1856, weighing 16 tons. However, this cracked under test in the Palace Yard. The contract for the bell was then given to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, who in 1858 re-cast the bell into the 13.8 t bell used today. It too started to crack under the hammer, and a legal battle arose. After two years of having the Great Bell out of commission, the 6 cwt (300 kg) hammer was replaced with a 4 cwt (200 kg) hammer, and the bell itself was turned 90° so the crack would not develop any further, and it came back into use in 1862. However, the crack, now filled, and the turn meant that it no longer struck a true E.

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Other bells

Along with the main bell, the belfry houses four quarter bells which play the Westminster Quarters, derived from Handel's Messiah, on the quarter hours. The C note in the chime is repeated twice in quick succession, faster than the chiming train can draw back the hammers, so the C bell uses two separate hammers.

Related Topics:
Belfry - Quarter bells - Westminster Quarters - Handel - Messiah

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