Cruise & Travel

Big Ben

Big Ben is the name that is known to the Great Bell of Westminster, the largest of the bells inside the tower and part of the Great Clock of Westminster, as well as (erroneously) to the Clock Tower of the Palace Westminster, located in London. The tower is located on the northwest corner of the building that houses the headquarters of the two Houses of the British Parliament.

The clock tower

The tower was built as part of the new building designed by Charles Barry, after the old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire the night of October 16, 1834. The tower is designed to Victorian Gothic style, and is 96.3 m high. The Gothic style was eventually chosen by the British Empire’s need to differentiate from other nations in those days, they felt less strong, where parliaments are governed primarily by the classical style.

The body of the tower (61 m) consists of a brickwork with stone cladding, and the remaining 35 meters form the needle cast iron which is crowned with the tower. The tower is seated on a base of 15 meters square and has a weight estimated at 8667 tons. The four watches are located at 55 meters tall.

Because of the land where the building is built, the tower leans slightly to the northwest, about 220 mm. Also a few millimeters annually ranges east and west, due to thermal effects.

The clock and its faces

The clock tower was the largest in the world in its time, capable of every hour with the precision of a second. The clock mechanism was completed in 1854, but the tower was not fully constructed until four years later.

The four sides of the clock and its fields were designed by Augustus Pugin. Each side has a spherical structure of iron, 23 feet in diameter containing 312 pieces of opaque glass. Some of these pieces can be removed to check the hands of the clock. At the base of each face of the clock there is an inscription in Latin: ‘DOMINO Sálvame FAC Reginam NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM’ ( ‘God save our Queen Victoria I’). The hand that marks the hours measured 2.7 meters long, while the minute mark that measured 4.3 meters.

The name “Big Ben” was the original 16-tonne bell in the tower, cast in 1856. Since the tower was not yet finished, the bell was installed in the “New Palace Yard,” but the bell was broken, and was remade into a campaign of 13.8 tons, which is used today. The new bell was mounted on the tower in 1858 with four more bells, which are responsible for providing quarters.

On September 7, 1859 the clock went into operation.

Today is one of the tourist attractions of the city of London. Millions of people visit it each year. It is an emblem of the city.