Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower are some of the most famous landmarks of the United Kingdom.The clock tower as we see it, was built in 1844. In 1859, the great bell rang out for the first time.It is this gigantic bell that is known as Big Ben and not the bell tower itself. Prior to 2012, the tower had been known as the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster. Then, in 2012, the British Parliament decided to rename it after Queen Elizabeth II in honor of her Diamond Jubilee.This great clock consists of four small bells that chime quarter hours, while Big Ben is the hour bell. It is believed that Big Ben was named after the First Commissioner of Works, Sir Benjamin Hall who was also known as Big Ben due to his gigantic structure.Big Ben and the clock tower are integral parts of some of the British celebrations, like New Year’s Eve and Remembrance Day. Culturally, mainly in visual media, Big Ben plays a significant role. To be more articulate, Big Ben is to the UK what the Statue of Liberty is to the US, and what the Eiffel Tower is to France.When was Big Ben built?The construction of this British landmark took place about 200 years ago.In 1834, the old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire. A new bill was passed in parliament for the construction of a new palace. After 10 years, in 1944 another initiative was taken by parliament to build an impressive clock tower on the northern extremity of the Houses of Parliament (the new palace that had been built next to Westminster Hall.)With this bill, the construction of the Westminster Clock Tower began. Astronomer Sir George Airy declared that the task needed a high level of accuracy and also took the liberty of drafting the required clock mechanism. According to Sir George Airy, the time should be registered by the first stroke of the hour bell, correct to within one second every day, and it should also send its performance to Greenwich Observatory twice a day.Airy’s statement made several clockmakers skeptical about whether such accuracy could ever be achieved in a mechanical clock. Around this time, an amateur horologist by the name of Edmund Beckett Denison accepted the challenge of building this great clock. By 1851, Denison had completed his design for a pendulum clock, and the job of assembling it had been assigned to the owner of a prominent clock-making company Edward John Dent. The clock was finished in 1854 by Edward Dent’s son Fredrick Dent, and he also got five more years for testing purposes because the construction of the clock tower hadn’t been completed yet.In the meantime, Denison also completed the design of the hour bell and assigned John Warner and Sons to cast the prototype. The original bell was prepared in 1856 and was hung in New Palace Yard for testing in 1857, but it could not endure the trial and ended up getting cracked irreparably. From here, the contract of casting a new bell went to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, the oldest British foundry that had cast the original Liberty Bell (which also cracked), and met with more success this time.The second and the final version of this colossal bell was complete in 1858 and became the largest bell cast in the UK. Such was its size, at 7 ft (2.13 m) high and weighing over 13 tons (11793.4 kg) it required a team of 16 horses to carry the bell from the foundry to the Palace of Westminster.It takes a few more months to get the clock tower ready. Finally, after the installation of the hour bell and four smaller quarter-chime bells, on July 11, 1859, Big Ben chimes for the first time.The second bell too cracked after a few months and was out of service till 1962 when it was repaired with a square piece of metal. This is the reason why the sound of the clock chiming carries a distinctive imperfect tone. Later, when it was repaired, a lighter hammer replaced the old heavier one to prevent any further damage to the hour bell.The first bell strike to be broadcast in the United Kingdom was in 1923 by BBC Radio. In 1932, for the first time, the Empire Service broadcast Big Ben’s chimes internationally.Why was Big Ben built?The construction of Big Ben and the clock tower began after most parts of the old Westminster Hall were destroyed by fire.Though the clock tower, today known as Elizabeth Tower, was not present in Architect Charles Barry’s design (to replace the demolished Palace in 1834), it was incorporated into the design after 10 years by the British Parliament.Again, the responsibility of designing this clock tower fell on the shoulder of Barry, the chief architect, who did a good job, but wasn’t able to find the right clockmaker.Before Big Ben or the Elizabeth Tower was constructed there had been another clock tower named the ‘Great Tom of Westminster.’ It was built around 1367 and had a chiming bell. However, in 1698, when hour bells had become redundant due to the extreme popularity of clocks, the components of the Great Tom were sold off to the church of St Margaret. This might have been the reason why Parliament decided to build this clock tower.Interestingly, each of the four quarter bells chimes in a different note: G sharp, E, F sharp, and B (this is the low bell that is supplied with two wrench hammers). A 20-chime sequence is played by these bells: at quarter past, 1-4; at half-past, 5-15; at quarter to, 13-20 and 1-4; on the hour, 5-20.The Significance Of Big Ben Throughout HistoryBig Ben, situated on Elizabeth Tower or St Stephen’s Tower, has been known for its accuracy and also its cultural significance.Initially, a telegraph line was used to coordinate the clock with the Greenwich Observatory. However, the Big Ben clock ran accurately almost always since its introduction. That is why when the telegraph line was destroyed during World War II, Parliament did not consider it necessary to reinstate the connection.Even though the clock matched Airy’s specifications, there have been a few instances where the clock’s speed was a bit inaccurate. A great example of such an incident was New Year’s Eve in 1962 when Big Ben rang 10 minutes past midnight due to a buildup of snow on the clock’s arms.Surprisingly enough, the accuracy of the clock’s pendulum is still maintained in a primitive method, by using pennies to adjust the pendulum’s balance and swing.In the UK, Big Ben is one of the main focuses of the New Year’s Day celebrations. TV and radio stations broadcast the Big Ben chimes to welcome the new year, and a similar event happens on Remembrance Day: the clock chimes to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.The Clock Tower has also become a symbol for London and the UK in the visual media. Every time a filmmaker wishes to give a quick indication of a location in the UK, she/he just gives (most of the time) a glimpse of the clock tower, though it is mostly applicable to a non-UK audience.Big Ben can also be used in a classroom to demonstrate the difference between the speed of sound and the speed of light. A person standing below the clock tower will hear the usual chimes one-sixth of a second later due to the height of the tower. Even the people living in New York City can hear the chimes on the radio before that person.During the Second World War, 1939-1945, The clock dials of Big Ben remained unlit because of wartime blackout restrictions. They were again reilluminated when the restrictions were lifted, and this reillumination marked the end of the war.Lastly, each dial of the Big Ben clock consists of 312 pieces of glass, and a special light is illuminated above the clock faces, every time the Parliament is in session. During the Second World War, a bomb destroyed the Commons chamber, but the tower survived its toll, and Big Ben continued to show people the accurate time.Naming Of Big BenWhen it comes to the name, there are two theories that give separate accounts of how the main bell of the clock came to be named Big Ben.The first theory suggests that the bell was named after the first Commissioner of Works, Sir Benjamin Hall. He was definitely a man of large size, and due to that, he was often called ‘Big Ben’ in the house (affectionately).The second theory suggests that the bell was named after Benjamin Caunt, the then heavyweight boxing champion. It was a time when the name ‘Big Ben’ was very common and was given to anyone with a large structure. So, the gigantic boxer was also known as ‘Big Ben’.Also, it is said that initially it was decided to name the bell ‘Royal Victoria’ to honor Queen Victoria. Later, an MP suggested the nickname ‘Big Ben’ during a Parliamentary session, and it rapidly became popular, though there is no written record of this statement.
Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower are some of the most famous landmarks of the United Kingdom.
