The Westminster Clock Tower within which the hour bell is 'Big Ben' is here at the northern-end of the Houses of Parliament between Speaker's Green and New Palace Yard. This is not far from what is thought to have been the site of a clock tower set in the boundary wall of the royal palace which Henry VIII (1491-1547) moved out of after a fire in 1512. This tower also owes its existence to a fire in the Palace of Westminster. That happened in 1834 and following it Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) won a competition for the design of the new Palace that we now see and then had the determination, diplomatic skills and stamina to see it largely completed. His tower, completed in 1858, is 316ft high and 40ft square. The contract for the clock went to the firm of S. Dent and Co., the winner of a competition adjudicated by the Astronomer Royal, George Airy, who had prescribed a detailed set of requirements. The designer of the mechanism was Edmund Becket Denison, QC. Some very fine adjustments to the time keeping are made by placing or removing small weights on the pendulum. These weights include some pre-decimal pennies and a sovereign. Barry's collaborator in the building of the Palace, August Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52), designed the detail of the faces. 'Big Ben' was originally cast in Stockton-on-Tees but when under test it developed a substantial crack. So, the bell was recast in Whitechapel and hung in the belfry in 1858 where, after a brief period of use, it was found to have a small crack. For a time one of the quarter bells was used to strike the hour but it was then decided to turn 'Big Ben' and present a different part of the surface to a lighter clapper. There is some debate as to whether the name 'Big Ben' commemorates Sir Benjamin Hall the First Commissioner of Works at that time or whether the workmen who hung it named it after Benjamin Caunt who was a contemporary champion boxer. Since 1862 this is what has been heard across London and, since the BBC started broadcasting, world-wide.

O/S Co-ords:3028.7963
Source(s):

Westminster Palace and Parliament

The Houses of Parliament - The Palace of Westminster