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When Will Big Ben Clock Play Again

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Clock belfry in London, England

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

Large Ben in 2007
Alternative names Big Ben
General information
Type Clock tower
Architectural style Gothic Revival
Location Westminster, London, England
Coordinates 51°30′03″Northward 0°07′28″W  /  51.5007°Northward 0.1245°W  / 51.5007; -0.1245 Coordinates: 51°30′03″North 0°07′28″W  /  51.5007°Due north 0.1245°Westward  / 51.5007; -0.1245
Completed 31 May 1859; 162 years ago  (31 May 1859)
Pinnacle 316 feet (96 grand)
Technical details
Floor count eleven
Design and construction
Builder Augustus Pugin

Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the hitting clock at the n end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England,[one] although the name is ofttimes extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower.[two] The official name of the belfry in which Big Ben is located was originally the Clock Tower, but information technology was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012, to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin in a neo-Gothic style. When completed in 1859, its clock was the largest and most accurate 4-faced hit and chiming clock in the world.[iii] The tower stands 316 feet (96 k) tall, and the climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps. Its base is foursquare, measuring 40 feet (12 one thousand) on each side. Dials of the clock are 22.5 feet (6.nine thousand) in diameter. All 4 nations of the Great britain are represented on the belfry on shields featuring a rose for England, thistle for Scotland, shamrock for Northern Republic of ireland, and leek for Wales. On 31 May 2009, celebrations were held to marker the belfry's 150th anniversary.[4]

Big Ben is the largest of the belfry's v bells and weighs xiii.five long tons (13.seven tonnes; 15.1 short tons).[1] Information technology was the largest bell in the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland for 23 years. The origin of the bell'south nickname is open up to question; it may be named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw its installation, or heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt. Four quarter bells chime at xv, 30 and 45 minutes by the 60 minutes and just before Big Ben tolls on the hour. The clock uses its original Victorian mechanism, but an electric motor tin be used as a backup.

The belfry is a British cultural icon recognised all over the world. It is one of the most prominent symbols of the United Kingdom and parliamentary democracy,[five] and it is often used in the establishing shot of films ready in London.[6] The clock belfry has been function of a Grade I listed building since 1970 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

On 21 August 2017, a four-year schedule of renovation works began on the tower. Modifications have included calculation a elevator, re-glazing and repainting the clock dials, and upgrading lighting and repairing roof tiles amidst other improvements. With a few exceptions, such as New year'southward Eve and Remembrance Sunday, the bells are to be silent until the work is completed in 2022.[seven]

Tower [edit]

Origin [edit]

Elizabeth Belfry, originally referred to as the Clock Tower, simply more popularly known as Big Ben,[8] was raised every bit a role of Charles Barry's blueprint for a new Palace of Westminster, subsequently the old palace was largely destroyed by fire on 16 October 1834.[9] 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 edifice contractors were Thomas Grissell and Morton Peto. An inscribed trowel at present in the Parliamentary Athenaeum records that Emily, sister of Peto's daughter-in-law, was given the honour of laying the first rock.[11] It was Pugin'due south last design before his descent into mental illness and expiry in 1852, and Pugin himself wrote, at the fourth dimension of Barry's final visit to him to collect the drawings: "I never worked so hard in my life for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all my designs for finishing his bell belfry and information technology is cute".[12]

Design [edit]

Completed in 1859, the belfry is designed in Pugin's Gothic Revival mode, and is 316 feet (96.three m) high making information technology the tertiary tallest clock tower in the Uk. Its dials (at the centre) are 180 anxiety (54.nine m) in a higher place ground level. The tower'south base is square, measuring xl feet (12.two thousand) on each side,[thirteen] resting on physical foundations 12 feet (3.seven m) 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.[fifteen] There is a spiral staircase with 290 stone steps up to the clock room, followed by 44 to reach the belfry, and an boosted 59 to the superlative of the spire.[13]

In a higher place the belfry and Ayrton low-cal are 52 shields busy with national emblems of the four countries of the UK: the reddish and white rose of England'due south Tudor dynasty, the thistle of Scotland, shamrock of Northern Ireland, and leek of Wales. They besides characteristic the pomegranate of Catherine of Aragon, outset wife of the Tudor king Henry VIII; the portcullis, symbolising both Houses of Parliament;[16] and fleurs-de-lis, a legacy from when English monarchs claimed to rule France.[17]

A ventilation shaft running from ground level upwardly to the belfry, which measures 16 anxiety (four.ix m) by eight feet (two.four yard), was designed past David Boswell Reid, known as "the grandfather of air conditioning". It was intended to draw cool, fresh air into the Palace of Westminster; in practice this did not piece of work and the shaft was repurposed every bit a chimney, until around 1914.[18] The 2017–2021 conservation works included the addition of a elevator (or elevator) that was installed in the shaft.[nineteen]

Its foundations rest on a layer of gravel, below which is London clay.[xiv] Attributable to this soft ground, the belfry leans slightly to the north-west by roughly 230 mm (9.one in) over 55 m summit, 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.[twenty] In the 1990s, thousands of tons of concrete were pumped into the ground underneath the tower to stabilise it during construction of the Westminster section of the Jubilee line.[21] Information technology leans past about 500 mm (20 in) at the finial. Experts believe the tower'south lean volition not be a problem for another 4,000 to 10,000 years.[22]

Name [edit]

Journalists during Queen Victoria'southward reign called information technology 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 incorporate a feature called St Stephen'due south Tower, located above the public entrance).[23] On 2 June 2012, the House of Commons voted in support of a proposal to change the proper noun from the Clock Tower to Elizabeth Tower in commemoration of Elizabeth Ii in her Diamond Jubilee year, since the large west belfry now known as Victoria Tower had been renamed in tribute to Queen Victoria on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee.[24] On 26 June 2012, the House of Eatables confirmed that the name alter could go ahead.[25] David Cameron, then Prime Minister, officially announced the modify of name on 12 September 2012.[26] The change was marked by a naming ceremony in which John Bercow, and then Speaker of the House of Eatables, unveiled a plaque attached to the tower on the bordering Speaker's Green.[27]

Prison Room [edit]

Inside the belfry is an oak-panelled Prison house Room, which tin can simply be accessed from the House of Commons, not via the tower entrance. It was terminal used in 1880 when atheist Charles Bradlaugh, newly elected Member of Parliament for Northampton, was imprisoned by the Serjeant at Artillery later he protested against swearing a religious oath of allegiance to Queen Victoria.[28] Officially, the Serjeant at Arms can still brand arrests, as they have had the authority to exercise since 1415. The room, yet, is currently occupied by the Petitions Commission, which oversees petitions submitted to Parliament.[29]

Ayrton Lite [edit]

A new feature was added in 1873 by Acton Smee Ayrton, so First Commissioner of Works and Public Buildings. The Ayrton Light is a lantern sited higher up the belfry and is lit whenever the Business firm of Commons sits afterward dark. Information technology tin can be seen from across London. Originally, it shone towards Buckingham Palace so Queen Victoria could look out of a window and run into when the Commons were at work.[xxx]

Clock [edit]

Dials [edit]

One 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 iron sections bolted together. The whole frame is 22.5 anxiety (half-dozen.ix yard) in diameter making them the third largest in the UK. They each contain 324 pieces of opalescent drinking glass.[31] Originally, the dials were backlit using gas lamps, at first simply when Parliament was sitting, but they have 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 gilded. At the base of each dial is the Latin inscription DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM , which means "O Lord, proceed safe our Queen Victoria the Kickoff".[33] Unlike many Roman numeral clock dials, which show the "4" position as IIII, the Great Clock faces describe "4" as IV.[34] The clock's gun metallic hour hands and copper minute easily are viii.75 feet (2.7 grand) and xiv feet (four.3 m) long respectively.[35]

When completed, the frame and hands were Prussian blue, just were painted black in the 1930s to disguise the effects of air pollution. The original colour scheme was reinstated during the 2017–2021 conservation work. It was found that no fewer than six unlike 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 past glassmakers Glasfabrik Lamberts.[37]

Move [edit]

The interior of the clock face

The clock'south movement is known for its reliability. The designers were the lawyer and amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison, and George Blusterous, the Astronomer Royal. Construction was entrusted to clockmaker Edward John Dent; later on his expiry in 1853 his stepson Frederick Dent completed the work, in 1854.[38] As the belfry was not 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 pelting, air current and snow on the dials.[39] Dent never patented his design, and it speedily became the standard on all new high-quality tower clocks.[twoscore]

Winding the clock mechanism

On top of the pendulum is a small stack of pre-decimal penny coins; these are to adapt the time of the clock. Adding a coin has the issue of minutely lifting the position of the pendulum'due south heart of mass, reducing the effective length of the pendulum rod and hence increasing the rate at which the pendulum swings. Calculation or removing a penny will alter the clock's speed past 0.four seconds per twenty-four hours.[41] It keeps fourth dimension to within a few seconds per calendar 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 after the movement in addition to overseeing every aspect of maintenance around the Palace. A team of horologists are on call 24 hours a mean solar day to attend to the clock in the outcome of an emergency.[43]

On 10 May 1941, a German language bombing raid damaged two of the clock'south dials and sections of the tower's stepped roof and destroyed the House of Eatables chamber. Architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed a new 5-floor block. 2 floors are occupied past the current chamber, which was used for the first time on 26 October 1950. The clock ran accurately and chimed throughout the Blitz.[44]

Breakdowns and other incidents [edit]

19th century [edit]

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

21 Baronial 1877 – January 1878: The clock was stopped for 3 weeks to allow the tower and machinery to be cleaned and repaired. The old escape wheel was replaced.[45]

20th century [edit]

February 1900: The heavy build-up of snow on a clock face up impeded the progress of the hour manus, causing the clock to finish for nigh 8 hours.[47]

1916: For two years during Globe War I, the bells were silenced and the clock faces were not illuminated at dark to avert guiding attacking German language Zeppelins.[48]

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

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

2 April 1934: The clock stopped from 7:sixteen a.m. to 1:15 pm, when it was repaired.[50]

23 September 1936: A painter painting the inside of the clock room placed a ladder against a shaft driving the hands, stopping the clock from 8:47 to ten am.[47]

one September 1939: Although the bells continued to ring, the clock faces were not illuminated at night throughout World War 2 to avoid guiding bomber pilots during the Rush.[48]

x May 1941: A German bombing raid damaged ii of the clock'south dials.

3–iv June 1941: The clock stopped from 10:thirteen p.m. until 10:13 the post-obit morning, afterward a workman repairing air-raid damage to the clock face left a hammer too close to the mechanism.[51] [47]

25–26 Jan 1945: Extremely cold temperatures froze the rubber bushings on the quarter-bell hammers, preventing the chimes sounding from 9 p.m. on the 25th to ix p.m. the post-obit evening; the BBC circulate the pips in the interval.[47]

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

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

13 January 1955: The clock stopped at 3:24 a.k. due to drifts of snowfall forming on the north and east dials. Small electrical heaters were placed just within these ii dials, and this measure has helped to reduce instances of freezing in recent years.[47]

xviii July 1955: The rope operating the striking hammer broke, silencing the clock from 10 a.m. to 5 pm.[47]

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

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

9 Jan 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 August 1976: The air brake speed regulator of the chiming mechanism broke from torsional fatigue after more than 100 years of use, causing the fully wound 4-ton weight to spin the winding pulsate out of the motion, causing much damage. The Great Clock was shut downwardly for a full of 26 days over nine months – it was reactivated on 9 May 1977. This was the longest suspension in functioning since its construction. During this fourth dimension BBC Radio 4 broadcast the pips instead.[55] Although in that location were minor stoppages from 1977 to 2002, when maintenance of the clock was carried out past the old house of clockmakers Thwaites & Reed, these were frequently repaired inside the permitted ii-hour reanimation and non recorded as stoppages. Before 1970, maintenance was carried out by the original firm of Dents; since 2002, by parliamentary staff.

March 1986 and January 1987: The trouble of the safety bushings on the quarter bong chimes freezing recurred, muffling the chimes.[47]

30 April 1997: The clock stopped 24 hours before the general ballot, and stopped again 3 weeks afterwards.[56]

21st century [edit]

Cleaning of the due south clock face on 11 Baronial 2007

27 May 2005: The clock stopped at 10:07 pm, perchance because of hot weather condition; temperatures in London had reached an unseasonable 31.8 °C (ninety °F). Information technology resumed, simply stopped again at x:xx pm, and remained still for about xc minutes earlier resuming.[56]

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

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

11 August 2007: Start of half-dozen-week stoppage for maintenance. Bearings in the clock'due south chinkle train and the "neat bell" striker were replaced, for the first time since installation.[60] During the maintenance the clock was driven by an electrical motor.[61] Once again, BBC Radio 4 broadcast the pips during this time. The intention was that the clock should run accurately for a further 200 years earlier 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 nobility and deep respect" during the funeral of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.[63]

August 2015: Maintenance crews discovered the clock to be running seven seconds fast. They removed coins from its pendulum to right the error, which caused information technology to run slow for a period.[64]

21 August 2017: Start of an ongoing, 4-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, easily, and lights were removed for restoration, with at to the lowest degree one dial – with its easily driven by an electric motor – left intact, functioning, and visible at any given time. A lift was as well installed during this renovation.[65] [66]

Bells [edit]

Nifty Bell [edit]

The chief bong, officially known as the Corking Bell only better known as Large Ben, is the largest bong in the tower and part of the Great Clock of Westminster. It sounds an E-natural.[67]

The original bell was a 16 ton (16.3-tonne) hour bell, bandage on 6 August 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees past John Warner & Sons.[1] It is idea that the bong was originally to be called Victoria or Royal Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria, simply that an MP suggested the bong's current nickname of "Large Ben" during a Parliamentary debate; the annotate is non recorded in Hansard.[68]

Since the tower was not nevertheless finished, the bell was mounted in New Palace Yard simply, during testing, it cracked across repair and a replacement had to be made. The bell was recast on 10 April 1858 at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as a 13.5-ton (thirteen.76-tonne) bell.[1] [69] The second bell was transported from the foundry to the tower on a trolley drawn by 16 horses, with crowds cheering its progress; information technology was and so pulled 200 ft (61.0 m) upwards to the Clock Tower's belfry, a feat that took eighteen hours. It is 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 chiliad) alpine and 9 feet (2.74 one thousand) diameter. This new bell first chimed in July 1859; in September it too cracked nether the hammer. According to the foundry'southward managing director, 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 everyman of the quarter bells until it was repaired. To make the repair, a square piece of metal was chipped out from the rim effectually the scissure, and the bong given an eighth of a turn so the new hammer struck in a different identify.[1] Big Ben has chimed with a slightly different tone ever since, and is still in employ today with the fissure unrepaired. Big Ben was the largest bell in the British Isles until "Swell Paul", a 16.75-ton (17 tonne) bell currently hung in St Paul's Cathedral, was cast in 1881.[70]

In August 2007, the bell's striker was replaced for the first time since installation.[sixty]

Nickname [edit]

The origin of the nickname Big Ben is the field of study of some fence. The nickname was practical get-go to the Great Bell; it may have been named later Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw the installation of the Great Bell, or afterward English heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt.[i] [71] [72] Now Big Ben is often used, past 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 about the tower, clock and bell sidestep the upshot by using the words Big Ben offset in the title, and so going on to clarify that the subject of the volume is the clock and belfry besides every bit the bell.[55] [74]

Chimes [edit]

Along with the Cracking Bell, the belfry houses four quarter bells which play the Westminster Quarters on the quarter hours. The four quarter bells sound G ♯ , F ♯ , E, and B. They were bandage past John Warner & Sons at their Crescent Foundry in 1857 (G ♯ , F ♯ and B) and 1858 (Due east). The Foundry was in Jewin Crescent, in what is now known equally The Barbican, in the City of London.[75] The bells are sounded by hammers pulled by cables coming from the link room—a low-ceiling space betwixt the clock room and the belfry—where mechanisms interpret the motion of the quarter train into the sounding of the individual bells.[15]

The quarter bells play a once-repeating, xx-note sequence of rounds and four changes in the fundamental of East major: 1–4 at quarter past, 5–12 at half past, thirteen–20 and 1–4 at quarter to, and 5–20 on the hour (which sounds 25 seconds before the main bell tolls the hr). Because the low bong (B) is struck twice in quick succession, there is not plenty time to pull a hammer back, and it is supplied with two wrench hammers on opposite sides of the bell. The tune is that of the Cambridge Chimes, showtime used for the chimes of Great St Mary'south 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's Messiah.[76] [77] The notional words of the chime, once more derived from Great St Mary'due south and in turn an allusion to Psalm 37:23–24, are: "All through this hour/Lord exist my guide/And by 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 beginning stroke of the hr bell should exist correct to within one second per mean solar day. The tolerance is with reference to Greenwich Mean Fourth dimension (BST in summer).[lxxx] So, at twelve o'clock, for example, it is the get-go of the twelve hr-bell strikes that signifies the hour (the New Year on New Yr's Eve at midnight). The time signalled by the final of the "six pips" (UTC) may be fractionally different.

Cultural significance [edit]

The clock has get a cultural symbol of the United Kingdom, especially in the visual media. When a boob tube or pic-maker wishes to indicate a generic location in the country, a popular way to do so is to show an image of the belfry, often with a carmine double-decker bus or black cab in the foreground.[81]

In 2008, a survey of ii,000 people establish that the belfry was the most popular landmark in the United Kingdom.[82] Information technology has also been named as the virtually iconic film location in London.[83]

The sound of the clock chiming has also been used this way in audio media; the Westminster Quarters are imitated by other clocks and other devices, simply the audio of Big Ben is preferred as the original and best. Big Ben is a focal point of New year celebrations in the United kingdom, with radio and television stations airing its chimes to welcome the showtime of the New year's day. To welcome in 2012, the clock tower was lit with fireworks that exploded at every cost of Big Ben.[84] Similarly, on Remembrance Day, the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast to mark the 11th hour of the 11th solar day of the 11th month and the start of the two minutes' silence.[85] The chimes of Big Ben have also been used at the land funerals of monarchs on iii occasions: firstly, at the funeral of King Edward Vii in 1910, when Large Ben chimed 68 times, one stroke for each year of the monarch'due south life; secondly, at the funeral of Rex George V in 1936 (70 strokes); and finally, at the funeral of King George Six in 1952 (56 strokes).[86]

Londoners who live an appropriate distance from the tower and Big Ben can, by means of listening to the chimes both alive and on analogue radio, hear the bell strike 13 times. This is possible because the electronically transmitted chimes go far nearly instantaneously, while the "live" sound is delayed travelling through the air since the speed of sound is relatively slow.[87]

ITN's 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 solar day.[88] The Big Ben chimes (known within ITN as "The Bongs") continue to be used during the headlines and all ITV News bulletins use a graphic based on the Westminster clock dial. Large Ben can also be heard striking the hr before some news bulletins on BBC Radio 4 (six p.m. and midnight, plus ten p.m. on Sundays) and the BBC World Service, a exercise that began on 31 December 1923. The sound of the chimes is sent alive 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 go out poll were projected onto the due south side of the tower.[90] On 27 July 2012, starting at 8:12 a.thousand, Big Ben chimed xxx times, to welcome the Games of the 30th Olympiad, which officially began that twenty-four hours, to London.[91]

2017 renovation [edit]

Scaffolding erected in 2017 to allow worker access

On 21 August 2017, Big Ben's chimes were silenced for four years to allow essential restoration work to be carried out on the tower. The determination to silence the bells was fabricated to protect the hearing of the workers on the tower, and drew much criticism from senior MPs and Prime number Minister Theresa May.[92] The striking and tolling of the bells for important occasions, such every bit New year's day'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 effectually the belfry immediately after the bells were silenced. The original cost of the project to the taxpayers and creditors was estimated to be roughly £29 one thousand thousand, just this was then 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 costly discoveries included asbestos in the belfry, the "extensive" use of lead paint, broken glass on the clock dials, and serious deterioration to the tower's intricate rock carvings due to air pollution. The price of addressing the new problems was estimated at £18.6 million, bringing the total budget for restoring the Elizabeth Tower to nearly £lxxx million.[94] The additional renovation work was worked in to the project and will be completed besides equally the originally planned restoration piece of work.[65]

The aim of the renovation is to repair and conserve the tower, upgrading facilities every bit necessary, and ensuring the tower'southward integrity for future generations. The last significant renovation work to the belfry 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 impairment to the ironwork. The two,567 cast-iron roof tiles accept been removed and refurbished, and a lift has been installed to brand access easier, along with a basic washroom with running water. The Ayrton Lite at the elevation of the belfry, which is lit when Parliament is sitting, has also 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 belfry was first built in 1859, with the black paint that was used to embrace upward the soot-stained punch frames now having been stripped away. The clock faces have been regilded, and the shields of St George accept been repainted in their original red and white colours. The 1,296 pieces of drinking glass that brand up the clock faces take also been removed and replaced.[96] [97]

After four years of renovations and restoration, it was announced on 23 November 2021 that the belfry 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 Big Ben falling silent?". BBC News.
  4. ^ "Join in the anniversary celebrations". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on two February 2009.
  5. ^ "Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret's Church building". UNESCO.
  6. ^ "Big Ben in films and pop culture". The Daily Telegraph. 8 Nov 2016. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
  7. ^ Fowler, Susanne (12 Apr 2021). "What Does It Take to Hear Big Ben Once more? 500 Workers and a Hiding Place". The New York Times . Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Large Ben 'bongs' to exist silenced for £29m refurbishment". BBC News. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 26 Apr 2016.
  9. ^ "1289-1834: Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower". UK Parliament . Retrieved ix 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". Britain Parliament . Retrieved 21 Jan 2021.
  17. ^ "Elizabeth Tower decorative shields: before and during the conservation". Great britain Parliament . Retrieved 21 Jan 2021.
  18. ^ McKay, p. 44.
  19. ^ "Large Ben: Lifts". Uk Parliament. 9 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Tunnel Vision" (PDF). Postal service Written report Summary. Parliamentary Office of Science 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 (2 June 2012). "The Queen's Diamond Jubilee: 'Big Ben to exist renamed Elizabeth Tower'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  25. ^ Rath, Kayte (26 June 2012). "Big Ben's belfry renamed Elizabeth Tower in award of Queen". BBC News.
  26. ^ "Questions to the Prime Minister". House of Commons Hansard Debates for 12 Sept 2012. Hansard. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  27. ^ "Elizabeth Belfry naming ceremony". U K Parliament. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  28. ^ McKay, p. 7.
  29. ^ "The Prison Room of Elizabeth Belfry". Parliamentary Archives. 28 May 2020.
  30. ^ McKay, p.28.
  31. ^ "Swell Clock facts". United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland Parliament . Retrieved 30 January 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 dictionary of electric current English language (sixth ed.). Clarendon Press. ISBN978-0-19-861121-9.
  • Expert, Richard (1996). Victorian Clocks. British Museum Press. ISBN978-0-7141-0578-ix.
  • Colina, Rosemary (2009). God's Architect: Pugin & the Building of Romantic Britain. Yale University Press. ASIN B008W30TJO.
  • Lockyer, Herbert (1993). A Devotional Commentary on Psalms. Kregel Christian Books. ISBN978-0-8254-9742-1.
  • McKay, Chris (2010). Big Ben: the Groovy Clock and the Bells at the Palace of Westminster. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-xix-958569-four.
  • Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (2011). Big Ben. The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Macmillan. ISBN978-0-2307-3878-2.

External links [edit]

  • Official website of Big Ben at United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland Parliament
  • The Palace of Westminster at United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland Parliament
  • Big Ben at Whitechapel Bell Foundry
  • Large Ben's Clapper at Houghton-le-Spring Heritage Club
  • Interior photos of the belfry at U.k. Parliament's Flickr
  • "A tale of Ii Towers: Large Ben and Pisa"—transcript of a lecture by Prof. John Burland

Videos [edit]

  • Inside Big Ben'southward Makeover short film by the B1M
  • The Mechanical Genius of Big Ben (2017) documentary by Discovery
  • Large Ben'southward a Hundred (1959) newsreel by British Pathé
  • Big Ben's Clean Upward (1955) by British Pathé
  • Big Ben (1948) by British Pathé

singletarycren1959.blogspot.com

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

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