Who built big ben in london. Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower) - the main chimes of Europe

Big Ben Is the most famous landmark in London. In fact, Big Ben is the name of the largest clock bell located at the north end of Westminster Palace in London, although the name is also often used to refer to the clock or the clock tower in general. It is part of the architectural complex of Westminster Palace. The official name is "Clock Tower of Westminster Palace", it is also called "St. Stephen's Tower". "Big Ben" is the building itself and the clock together with the bell. The name of the tower comes from the name of the 13-ton bell installed inside it. Big Ben is the largest four-sided clock with bells and the third tallest clock tower in the world. In May 2009, the watch celebrated its 150th anniversary (the watch was first wound on May 31) with numerous festive events.

The nearest London Underground station is Westminster on the Circle on the District and Jubilee lines.

Tower

The original clock tower was built in Westminster in 1288 with money from Ralph Hengem, President of the Supreme Court of the Queen's Bench. However, the current tower was built as part of a new palace designed by Charles Barry, after the old palace was destroyed by fire on the night of October 22, 1834.

The new parliament was built in neo gothic style... Although Charles Barry was the chief architect of the palace, he turned over the design of the clock tower to Augustus Padgin, which resembles his earlier designs, including the one for Scarisbrick Hall. The project for the clock tower was the last for Pajin, after which he went insane and died. Pajin himself considered the tower project the most difficult of his life. According to Pajin's design, the neo-Gothic tower is 96.3 meters high (about 16 floors).

The height of the clock tower without a spire is 61 meters and consists of bricks topped with colored limestone. The rest of the tower is represented by a cast iron spire. The tower is installed on a 15-meter concrete foundation 3 meters thick and 4 meters deep below ground level. Four dials are at a height of 55 meters. The internal volume of the tower is 4,650 cubic meters.

Although the tower is one of the world's most popular landmarks, access to the inside is closed to the public for security reasons, although occasionally the press and various VIPs gain access. However, the tower does not have an elevator or other lift, so those who gain access must climb 334 limestone steps to climb up.

Due to changes in the state of the land since construction (especially due to the tunneling for the Jabili London Underground line), the tower tilts slightly to the northwest by about 220 mm, giving a slope of about 1/250. Due to weather conditions, this inclination fluctuates within a few millimeters to the north or west.

Watch

Dials

The dials are quite large, and for a while Big Ben was the largest four-sided watch in the world, but the record was broken by the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. However, the builders of Allen-Bradley did not add striking to the clock, so the Great Clock of Westminster still bears the title of “the largest four-sided striking clock”.

The watch and dial were designed by Augustus Pajin. The watch dials are set in 7-meter iron frames and consist of 312 pieces of opal glass and look more like windows. Some of their pieces can be removed by hand to inspect them. The discs are gilded around the circumference.

Mechanism

The watch is renowned for its reliability. The designers were lawyer and amateur watchmaker Edmund Beckett Denison and George Airy, Astronomer Royal. The assembly was entrusted to the watchmaker Edward John Dent, who completed the work in 1854. Since the tower was not fully built until 1859, Denison had time to experiment: instead of using the aperiodic stroke and the key to wind the watch as in original project Denison invented the double three-stage stroke. This movement provides the best separation between the pendulum and the clockwork. The pendulum is mounted inside a windproof box located below the clock room. It is 3.9 m long, weighs 300 kg and walks every two seconds. The clockwork located in the room below weighs 5 tons.

The idiomatic expression "put a penny" with the deceleration value comes from the method of fine tuning the clock's pendulum. At the top of the pendulum are old English coins - pennies. Adding or removing coins gives the effect of changing the position of the center of gravity of the pendulum, the effective length of the genus (genus is the non-metric system of length in Great Britain) of the pendulum, and therefore the amplitude along which the pendulum swings. Adding or removing a penny can change the clock speed by 0.4 seconds per day.

On May 10, 1941, a German bombing raid damaged two dials, the roof of the tower and destroyed the House of Commons building. Architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed a new five-story block. Two floors were occupied by the current chamber, which first began to use it on October 26, 1950. Despite the bombing, the clock continued to tick and tick.

Failures, breakdowns and failure
1916: For two years during the First World War, the bells did not ring and the dials were darkened at night to prevent an attack by German Zeppelin.

September 1, 1939: Although the bells continued to ring, the dials were darkened at night during World War II to prevent an attack by Nazi German pilots.

New Year's Eve 1962: The clock slowed down due to heavy snow and ice on the hands, and therefore had to separate the pendulum from the mechanism, as it would be designed under similar circumstances, in order to avoid serious damage to another part of the movement. Thus, the clock chimed the new year 10 minutes later.

August 5, 1976: First and only truly serious injury. The ringer speed regulator broke down after 100 years of service, and the 4 tonne loads poured all their energy onto the mechanism at once. This caused a lot of damage - the main clock did not run for a total of 26 days for 9 months, it was restarted on May 9, 1977. This was the biggest interruption in their work since the moment of construction.

May 27, 2005: Clocks stopped at 10:07 p.m. local time, possibly due to the heat (temperatures in London reached the unseasonal 31.8 ° C). They were restarted, but stopped again at 10:20 pm local time and did not run for about 90 minutes before being restarted.

October 29, 2005: The movement was stopped for approximately 33 hours to repair and service the clocks and bells. It was the longest maintenance shutdown in 22 years.

At 7:00 am on June 5, 2006: The "quarter bells" of the clock tower were removed for four weeks as the mount that held one of the bells had worn out over time and needed repairs. During the renovation, BBC radio 4 broadcast recordings of bird voices and replaced the usual chimes with pip.

August 11, 2007: the beginning of the six-week Maintenance... The chassis and "tongue" of the large bell were replaced for the first time since installation. During the repair, the watch did not come from the original mechanism, but from an electric motor. Once again, BBC radio 4 had to get by with pips at this time.

Bells

Big bell

The main bell, the largest bell in the tower, officially called the Big Bell, is Big Ben.

The original bell weighed 16 tons and was cast on August 6, 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees by John Warner & Sons.

Until the tower was completed, the bell was installed in New Palace Yard. Cast in 1856, the first bell was transported to the tower on a cart drawn by 16 horses, which was constantly surrounded by the crowd as it passed. Unfortunately, during a trial test, the bell cracked and needed repair. It was redesigned at the Whitechapel foundry and weighed 13.76 tons. It took 18 hours to get him up the tower. The bell is 2.2 m high and 2.9 m wide. This new bell rang for the first time in July 1859. However, it also cracked under the hammer in September, two months after it was put into permanent operation. Foundry manager George Merce said Denison used a hammer more than twice the maximum weight allowed. For three years, Big Ben was not used, and the clock rang the lowest quarter bells until the main bell was re-installed. For repairs, a part of the metal on the rim around the crack was chopped, and the bell itself was turned so that the hammer was in a different place. Big Ben rang with a broken zing and continues to be used today with a crack. At the time of its casting, Big Ben was the largest bell in the British Isles until 1881, when the “Big Paul”, a 17-ton bell, now housed in St Paul's Cathedral, was cast.

Chimes

Along with the Big Bell, the bell tower building also has four quarter bells that ring the quarters. These four bells play the notes G #, F #, E and B. They were cast by John Warner & Sons at their foundry in 1857 (G #, F # and B) and in 1858 (E). The plant was located at Jevin Crescent, what is now known as the Barbican, in the City of London.

The quarter bells play a sequence with 20 chimes, 1-4 for a quarter, 5-12 for a half, 13-20 and 1-4 for a quarter, and 5-20 for an hour (which rings 25 seconds before the main bell rings an hour) ... Since the low bell (B) has to ring twice in quick succession, it is not enough to use one hammer, so it has two hammers located at different sides... The ringing melody is the Cambridge chimes, first used for chimes at St Mary's in Cambridge, believed to be William Crotch.

Nickname

The Big Ben nickname is still the subject of much debate. The name was first applied to the Big Bell. There is a legend according to which the bell was named Big Ben in honor of the chief commissioner for the work, Sir Benjdamine Hall. According to another theory, the origin of the name may be associated with the name of the heavyweight boxer Benjdamine Count. There is also a version that initially the bell should have been named Victoria or Royal Victoria in honor of the Queen, a similar proposal was made by one of the members of parliament, but comments on this issue were not recorded in the official reports of the parliament meeting. Big Ben is now used generically to refer to clocks, towers and bells, although the nickname is not universally associated with the clock and tower. Some authors of works on the tower, clock and bell avoid this name in the titles, although they later explain that the subject of the book is both the clock and the tower and the bell.

Significance in culture

The watch has become a symbol of the United Kingdom and London, especially in the visual media. When television or filmmakers wish to indicate that the setting is in the UK, they show an image of the Clock Tower, often with a red double-decker bus or black taxi in the foreground. The sound of the clock chime has also been used in audio media, but Westminster Quarters can be heard from other clocks or devices as well.

The Clock Tower is the center of New Year's celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and television stations broadcasting its chimes to welcome the new year. Similarly, on Memorial Day for those killed during the First and Second World Wars, Big Ben's chimes mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and the beginning of two minutes of silence.

ITN's ten o'clock news introduces a picture of the Clock Tower with Big Ben chimes, marking the start of the news feed. Big Ben chimes continue to be used during the news feed and all news roundups use a graphical base based on the Westminster clock face. Big Ben can also be heard in front of some news headlines on BBC Radio 4 (at 6pm and midnight and 10pm on Sundays), a practice that began in 1923. The sound of chimes is transmitted in real time through a microphone permanently installed in the tower and connected to the radio and television center.

Londoners who live near Big Ben can hear thirteen bells ringing on New Year's Eve if they listen live and on radio or television. This effect is achieved due to the fact that the speed of sound is slower than the speed of radio waves.

The Clock Tower has appeared in many films: the "39 Steps" tape from 1978, in which the hero of Richard Hennay tried to stop the clock (to prevent a bomb explosion) by hanging on the minute hand of the western dial; the film "Shanghai Knights" with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson; episode of the story of Doctor Who in the series "Aliens in London". An animated version of the clock and the interior of the tower was used in the climax of Walt Disney's cartoon Big Mouse Detective. In the movie Mars Attacks! the tower is destroyed by a UFO, and in the movie "The Avengers" it is destroyed by lightning. The introduction of the "thirteen chimes" mentioned above was the main intrigue in "Captain Scarlett" and "Mysteron" episode "Strike Again on Big Ben". In addition, a survey of over 2,000 people found the tower to be the most popular attraction in the United Kingdom.

London is rich in ancient sights, but perhaps the most famous and attractive for tourists is the Big Ben clock tower. What is the history of this building?

History

The construction of the building began in 1837 under the direction of the talented architect Augustus Pugin. True, then it was simply called the Clock Tower. At that time, Queen Victoria, who later occupied the throne for 63 years, recently began to rule. The neo-Gothic clock tower was conceived with the aim of diversifying the appearance of the architectural complex, making it more fresh and memorable.

For some time, the tower managed to stay as a prison for imprisoned parliamentarians who arranged disgrace at meetings. For example, there was a zealous feminist, Emmeline Panhurst, who advocates for women's rights. Now a monument has been erected in her honor near the Palace of Westminster.

On each of the four dials of Big Ben, an inscription is engraved, which means, in translation from the Latin language, "God save Queen Victoria I", and also on the four sides of the building you can see the inscription "Praise the Lord".

The total height of Big Ben is 96 meters, of which 35 are the cast iron spire. The outer cladding is Estonian limestone, which has been in demand for seven hundred years. Although the tower is inferior in size to its neighbor, the Victoria Tower, for some reason it is much more fond of the townspeople. Big Ben has an inexplicable charisma that has not let go of the attention of travelers for many years.

Clock device and malfunctions

At a height of 55 meters from the ground, there is a huge clock with a diameter of seven meters. Until 1962, these dials were the largest in the world, but then he had to give laurels to the American clock tower Allen Bradley (while Big Ben still remained the largest clock tower with a strike, since the Americans did not equip their bells). The clocks are located on all four sides of the tower.

The hour hands are made of cast iron, while the lighter minute hands are made of sheet copper. The dials themselves are made of expensive Birmingham opal, but not solid, but “split” into more than 300 pieces. Some of the pieces can be removed in order to get to the arrows. Unlike many other Roman numeral clocks at the time, the 4 is referred to on Big Ben as IV, not IIII.

The clock is set to GMT, the most accurate in the world; the ideal stroke has been neatly maintained since 1854. The creators have developed a very original and even risky mechanism - the key winding was made not aperiodic, but a double three-stage one. This optimally separated the pendulum from the clockwork. The pendulum, by the way, weighs three hundred kilograms and is almost four meters long. It swings every two seconds.

When the decision was made to build the tower, the authorities promised to allocate money only on the condition that the clock on it would be the most accurate in the world. The designers had to try hard to convince them of this. However, like any watch, Big Ben starts to lag behind from time to time. Although this is a paltry 2.5 seconds per day, accuracy must be maintained. For this, a simple and ingenious method is used - an ancient British coin is placed on the pendulum. Swinging for a while with a coin, the pendulum evens out the clock. Thus, the mechanism has been functioning for more than one and a half hundred years. Of course, parts are periodically replaced or lubricated, these are necessary maintenance procedures.

Each year, a huge responsibility falls on the shoulders of Westminster watchmakers to change the time on the big clock when British Summer Time ends and Greenwich Mean Time begins. The process requires high precision and accuracy. In addition, the watchmakers maintain more than two thousand watch movements located in parliamentary buildings.

Stops in work:

A funny incident happened in 1949 when the clock began to lag by a full four minutes. Many indignantly spoke of the too old mechanism, but it turned out that the flock of starlings, which sat down to rest right on one of the minute hands, was to blame for everything.

In 1962, Big Ben was heavily iced up. Experts, having examined it, decided that it would be dangerous to break off pieces of ice, so the mechanism was simply turned off and turned on again in the spring.

In general, weather factors often caused malfunctions in the work of the watch. In 2005, due to the terrible heat, the arrows stopped twice a day - although this is almost impossible to logically explain, there are no more assumptions about the reasons. The repairs went on for a record long time - 33 hours in a row, while the hands were moving in the meantime with the help of a specially connected electric motor.

During the First and Second World Wars, a special regime was organized for the work of Big Ben. From time to time the bell didn’t chime the time, the night illumination didn’t turn on. However, the watch itself functioned properly. In 1941, the tower was damaged by bombing, but the damage was not too serious.

Bells of big ben

The name of the entire building was given by its largest and heaviest bell - Big Ben. It weighs 16 tons, and was taken to the construction site on sixteen horses, and an admiring crowd of people ran around. However, on the very first test, the bell was cracked and was sent for repair. The new bell is slightly smaller, weighing about 14 tons. Finally, on May 31, 1859, residents of the capital heard the first bell ringing of Big Ben.

True, the second version soon cracked. They did not remove and change the bell again, they limited themselves to easy repair... To date, a special square cut has been made in the device, thanks to which the crack does not propagate. All this was reflected in the sound - the resonating chime of Big Ben cannot be confused with anything.

Around the giant there are several more modest bells. They play rhythmic melodies every 15 minutes. A microphone is installed inside the building, thanks to which the chime is broadcast on TV.

Name history

The answer to the question why the bell was named Big Ben does not have an exact answer, although there are two versions. The first is that it is named after Lord Benjamin Hall, a rather large gentleman with a deep sonorous voice, who is the supervisor of construction work. Allegedly, at a meeting where the name of the bell was chosen, he spoke for so long and tediously that someone from the audience shouted: "Let's give him the name Big Ben and calm down at last!" Some of the participants burst out laughing, but everyone liked the idea. Another version connects the giant bell with the then famous boxer Benjamin Count.

It was also suggested to name it after Queen Victoria, but this option did not gain popularity. And in 2012, the building was renamed, it was officially given the name of the current English Queen Elizabeth II, 331 members of parliament voted for this. Of course, among the people, he has always been and remains Big Ben.

Big Ben in our time

The building does not host tourist excursions for foreigners, this is a government decision. Only a narrow circle of certain persons can get inside; they have to climb a narrow spiral staircase with more than 300 steps - there is, of course, no elevator in the tower. The main reason for the ban is the threat of terrorist attacks, because the building belongs to the premises for the country's parliament. Nevertheless, from time to time there are excursions around Big Ben, but exclusively for British citizens, and one of the deputies must lead them.

Big Ben panorama

True, right now the building is under reconstruction. The large-scale works were announced in April 2016 and will last three years, starting in 2017. But the tour to other parliamentary buildings can still be booked. Last time, extensive restoration work was carried out thirty years ago, so now it is necessary to make sure that the building is in an acceptable condition and can be preserved for posterity.

Others are forced to be content with only appearance towers and be photographed next to it. In London, you can also find a great variety of small copies of the landmark. They are a cross between tall grandfather clocks and clock towers. These duplicates are placed literally at every intersection.

On those days, when parliament sits in the tower in the evening, the lights above are sure to turn on. It's a tradition introduced by Queen Victoria for everyone to see if politicians are really busy with their jobs or lounging around. Since 1912, electric lamps have been used for this purpose, and previously gas burners were used.

By the way, Big Ben is slowly beginning to tilt. Of course, it is still far from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but changes in the ground are making themselves felt. The appearance of the Jubilee metro line also played a significant role. True, the builders claim that they have foreseen this. Since its construction, the tower has already shifted by 22 centimeters, which is why there was a slope of 1/250 to the northwest side. Also, due to the weather, fluctuations of several millimeters regularly occur.

How to get to Big Ben?

The tower is located just a couple of tens of meters from Westminster metro station, which is served by trains of three lines - gray, green and yellow. So it is very easy to get here from anywhere in the city for only one and a half pounds sterling (with an Oyster card, this is a kind of London travel card).

Big Ben on London map

In addition, there are many bus stops in the Westminster area, and transport runs even at night. The bus fare is the same as for the metro. Taxis, on the other hand, are much more expensive, at around £ 7 per mile. However, if you are traveling without luggage, you can always rent a bike at a special self-service parking lot. This will save you from traffic jams and allow you to fully enjoy the atmosphere of the city. Each half hour ride costs £ 2.

General information about parliamentary buildings

Not only Big Ben, but Westminser Palace as a whole can be called the face of London. Meetings of both chambers of government are held here almost every day. The building, 300 meters long, looks very majestic, and the number of internal premises exceeds 1200. If a person decides to go around the entire palace, he will have to overcome a hundred stairs and about five kilometers of corridors in total.

Initially, the building was built for the life of the royal family, but in 1834 a terrible fire brought most of the rooms into disrepair, after which it was decided to rebuild it according to a new project in the Gothic style. True, the ancient architecture still remains in the large reception hall, as well as in the unique Jewels Tower, built to store the treasury of Edward III.

The palace is flanked by two towers, one of which is Big Ben, and the other is the Victoria Tower, which also serves as the entrance to the castle for the royal family; on it the state flag is raised on holidays.

Guided tours of the palace are available to tourists, including foreign ones, although this was not the case until 2004. Now, when the parliament is resting, tourists can take a walk through the legendary building, where the history of the country is still going on. In 1965, Britain celebrated the 700th anniversary of the British Parliament. Despite its importance, this government agency for a long time he did not have his own residence.

Only in 1547, the chapel of St. Stephen, located in the old palace, began to be used as it. For this I had to distort architectural style hall, placing benches on it. There were other inconveniences, but, despite this, the parliament sat in the chapel until the fire of 1834. After the restructuring, the organ finally acquired its own premises. The new building quickly became a tourist attraction due to its impeccable architectural solutions, which fit the Clock Tower very organically.

Big Ben has long and firmly entrenched itself in the hearts of the British, as an unshakable symbol - it's like the Moscow Kremlin for the Russians, and the Statue of Liberty for the Americans. The image of a landmark is actively used in popular culture and art.

Big ben is one of the most popular places of interest in London and symbols of England. Every year many people visit the capital of Great Britain to see it and take some photos with it in the background. It is thought that Big Ben is a high tower with a very big clock, but that’s not really true.

In fact, this tower is called Saint Stephens Tower, but people, even those who live in the UK, are used to calling it "Big Ben." Actually, Big Ben is the huge bell inside the building. Its weight is about thirteen tons and it rings every hour daily: once at one o "clock, twice at two o" clock and so on. However, people who live near the tower can hear at New Year's Night how the bell strikes thirteen. It’s considered to be the biggest bell ever made in the country. The bell was firstly used in 1859 and was cracked soon because of the heavy hammer, which struck too strong. After this situation the hammer was changed, but that crack is still there.

There are many hypotheses for the origin of the name “Big Ben”. The most popular one suggests that the bell was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who was responsible for the installation. Some of people say he was really tall and that’s why this bell is called big, but the majority believe it is called Big because of its size.

Big Ben is one of the best-known landmarks in Europe. Nowadays the word Big Ben connects the bell, the clock and the tower at the same time. The tower is closed to the general public, but people with a "special interest" might offer an excursion for additional payment.

Big Ben is one of London's most popular landmarks and symbols of England. A lot of people every year come to the capital of Great Britain in order to see it and take some pictures in its background. It is believed that Big Ben is a tall tower with a very large clock, however, this is not entirely true.

In fact, this tower is called St. Stephen's Tower, but people, even those who live in the United Kingdom, used to call it Big Ben. In reality, Big Ben is a huge bell that sits inside the building. Its weight is approximately 13 tons, and it calls every hour every hour: once at one o'clock in the afternoon, twice at two o'clock in the afternoon, and so on. However, people living near the tower can hear in New Year's Eve as he hits 13 times. This bell is considered to be the largest among those made in this country. The bell first rang in 1859 and soon cracked due to a heavy hammer hitting it too hard. After the incident, the hammer was replaced, but the crack is still there.

There are many speculations about the origin of the name Big Ben. According to one of the more popular versions, the bell was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who was in charge of the installation. Some say that it was very tall, which is why the bell was named Large, but most believe that it is so named because of its size.

Big Ben is one of the most famous landmarks in Europe. Today the word Big Ben combines a bell, a clock and a tower at the same time. The tower is closed to the general public, however, people with a “special interest” offer guided tours for a fee.

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The abundance of interesting sights is almost the main reason that makes thousands of tourists from all over the world flock to London every year. Big Ben is a historic building that is justly proud of. What is known about the huge clock, which indicates the time with amazing accuracy, what is their history?

Big Ben in London: name

Why did the symbol of the capital of England receive such an unusual name? Initially, this name was given to a huge bell located in the tower of Westminster Palace. The diameter of the base of the product is three meters, the weight goes beyond 13 tons. Gradually, both the Clock Tower, in which the bell is located, and the clock, which have an impressive size, began to be called the same. Decades later, the whole world knew that Big Ben was the clock tower in London.

Who came up with the uncharacteristic name that was originally awarded to the bell? There are two legends explaining the origin of the name. The most popular of them says that the watch owes its original name to the architect Benjamin Hall, who was in charge of the construction work. It is believed that this man was so called because of his impressive build.

The second theory is slightly less popular. If you rely on her, he got his name in honor of the famous English heavyweight boxer Benjamin Count.

Construction

When was the landmark that London is deservedly proud of was created? Big Ben has a long history. It began in 1288, when the Clock Tower was built, which became part of the Palace of Westminster. Unfortunately, a fire in 1834 led to the destruction of this architectural element. Of course, a few years later, a decision was made to renovate it.

Who developed the project of the famous tower, which every person visiting London aspires to see today? Big Ben is the brainchild of the architect Augustus Pujin, famous for his designs in the neo-Gothic style. Unfortunately, this man died before his project was implemented. The construction of the tower was completed in 1858, and in 1859 the clockwork was ceremonially launched.

At first, electricity was used to illuminate the building only in 1912.

Technical specifications

The brick tower, topped by a spire made of cast iron, is installed on a concrete foundation, which is 15 meters high. Colored limestone was used for facing the architectural element. Even without the spire, the height of the tower is over 60 meters, together with it - 96.3 meters. How to understand how majestic a landmark that London is proud of? Big Ben has a height comparable to the parameters of a 16-storey building.

Unfortunately, the tower is not intended for mass visits; guests of the British capital can only see it from afar, as well as the inhabitants of the metropolis. Unsurprisingly, no lifts or elevators were included in the project. Those who want to climb to the top must overcome a total of 334 steps.

What is a watch

One cannot but dwell on such an element as the Big Ben clock. there are no analogues that could compete with them in terms of size. Until a few decades ago, there were no such in the whole world. Pugin also took over the development of the watch dials. In their manufacture, 312 copies of glass opal were used, seven-meter steel frames, gilded discs were created.

Arrows also have outstanding dimensions. Minutes are 4.2 meters long, made of copper. For the manufacture of hour hands, cast iron was used; their length is 2.7 meters. The watch dials are set at a height of 55 meters. The total weight tends to 5 tons. The pendulum weighing about 300 kg is located inside the tower, located under the clock room.

About accuracy

As you know, Big Ben is located in London. The inhabitants of this city put punctuality above all else. It is not surprising that the watch, which has established itself as a standard of reliability, has long become a symbol of the capital of Great Britain. The assembly of the movement was the responsibility of the watchmaker Edward Dent. The master coped with this task by 1854. A unique double three-stage stroke has been developed to guarantee high precision hours.

It is known that the error of the clockwork does not exceed 2 seconds per day. Amazingly, the accuracy of the mechanism is regulated by a one-penny coin, which is placed on the pendulum, then removed.

It is believed that the magnificent clock never stopped ticking the time. This claim is contradicted by the Big Ben story. In London, they first encountered their damage in 1976, the automatic regulator of the movement of the mechanism broke down. The watch took approximately 9 months to repair, during which time it was out of service. The relaunch was inaugurated in May 1977. There were failures in their work later, but the problems were eliminated much faster than it happened during the first breakdown. It is interesting that Big Ben was damaged during the Second World War as a result of the bombing, but damage to the tower roof did not cause the reliable clockwork to fail.

What is a bell

It is not just its size that gives the Clock Tower a popularity that other London landmarks cannot compete with. Big Ben is endowed with a huge bell that beats. This product is located inside the tower. It is known that the casting of the bell was entrusted to the master Edmund Beckett Denison. This man decided to create something more grandiose than even the "Great Peter" located in York and weighing ten tons. He created a bell, the total weight of which was 16 tons.

To transport the product, a cart was used, which was harnessed by 16 horses. The bell served no more than two months, then it cracked. As a result, a new version was created, the mass of which did not go beyond 13 tons. It is curious that at the same time the weight of the hammer, which was responsible for the blows, was reduced by half.

Unfortunately, the second bell also cracked, but it was repaired. It was decided to create a square cut that does not allow the cracks to propagate. There was also a small U-turn of Big Ben, as a result of which the hammer ceased to affect the damage.

For the first time, the resonant ringing was heard by the inhabitants of the capital at the end of May 1859. Big Ben has been in London for over 150 years. The first contact of the hammer with the bell is made at the first second of the beginning of a new hour. The clock cannot be late, since its course is controlled by the English penny by a person acting in the role of watchman. It is curious that they wanted to fire the caretaker when one day the famous clock was delayed by one second. Of course, the serviceability of the mechanism is regularly checked.

Interestingly, it was Big Ben, located in London, that was chosen to proclaim the beginning of the 21st century on the night of December 31, 2000. This watch represents the international standard for time. A few decades ago, they possessed the largest dial in the world, but this record was beaten by a clock installed on the building of Allen Bradley, which is located in the US state of Wisconsin.

London symbol

These days it is difficult to meet a person who does not know in which city Big Ben is located - London. The famous clock chimes, to which the people of Great Britain celebrate the New Year. It is he who is used when it is necessary to announce a moment of silence associated with the mournful events that have taken place in the world. Almost all fictional and documentary films about England contain a picture of the magnificent Big Ben in the headpiece. Local news programs also begin with a photograph of the famous tower.

Address: Great Britain, London, Palace of Westminster
Build date: 1859 year
Height: 96.3 m
Design, construction: Augustus Pugin
Coordinates: 51 ° 30 "02.6" N 0 ° 07 "28.2" W

Accuracy - the politeness of kings. In London, this saying is especially relevant. In the capital of Great Britain, out of several hundred city dials, only one clock is running correctly - on the Big Ben tower, which is part of the architectural ensemble of Westminster Palace (popularly - Parliament).

View of the tower from the opposite side of the Thames

Traditionally, Big Ben is called the tower or the clockwork installed on it, but in fact, this is the name of the huge bell in the clock. Big Ben also has an official name - "Clock Tower of Westminster Palace". The history of London's main chimes dates back to the 1840s, when the architect Charles Barry, busy with the reconstruction of the old building of Westminster, decided to add a clock tower to the palace. Parliament agreed to allocate money for the construction of the clock, but on condition that they are the most accurate in the UK, and their ringing will be heard throughout the capital.

The clock tower was designed by the world-renowned master of the neo-Gothic, Augustus Pugin. Big Ben reached a height of 96 meters. The brick tower, topped with a spire and lined with colored limestone, is set on a 15-meter concrete foundation. At a height of 55 meters, space was left for the watch dials, which were also developed by O. Pugin. The dial was assembled from 312 pieces of glass opal, enclosed in 7-meter steel frames, and the discs were gilded at the edges. The 2.7-meter-long hour hands were cast from cast iron, and the 4.2-meter minute hands were made of copper. Inside the tower, below the clock room, a 300-kilogram pendulum and a mechanism weighing 5 tons were placed.

Tower view at night

For a long time, the London dial was considered the largest in the world, until its record was broken by a clock on the Allen Bradley building in Wisconsin, USA. But the Americans didn’t add a chime to their chimes, so Big Ben still holds first place in the "Largest Four-Sided Striking Clock" nomination.

Big Ben is the world's most accurate clockwork

The fight emits a huge bell located inside the tower. This is Big Ben. Craftsman Edmund Beckett Denison took over the casting of the bell. He decided that his creation should surpass the 10-ton bell in York (“ Great Peter») And cast a bell weighing 16 tons. To do this, Denison changed the traditional alloy formulation and the shape of the casting.

In the presence of a large audience, the bell was solemnly delivered on a cart drawn by 16 horses. But two months later, the bell cracked, and a new one, weighing 13.7 tons, had to be cast, and the weight of the hammer that struck the blows had to be halved. The second bell cracked again, but this time they limited themselves to repairing it: they made a square cut to prevent the crack from spreading, and Big Ben itself was turned a quarter of a turn so that the hammer would not hit the damage. On May 31, 1859, Big Ben first announced London with its famous resonating ringing.

General view of the tower

For 150 years, Big Ben has been regularly ringing every hour, and the small bells surrounding it help him in this. Together they play the melody of Cambridge chimes, beating the rhythm of the following words: "At this hour the Lord protects me, and his strength will not allow anyone to stumble." The first blow of the hammer on the bell exactly coincides with the 1st second of the beginning of the hour. And if Big Ben suddenly decides to be late or lag behind, then a coin is put on his pendulum - an old English penny, which accelerates the clock by 2.5 seconds per day. By adding or removing a coin, the caretaker ensures the accuracy of the five-ton movement.

However, they miscalculated once. Several years ago, when Big Ben was 1 second behind, the caretaker almost resigned. The mechanism is checked and lubricated every two days. Big Ben - Big Lord Ben At the base of each of the four dials of Big Ben there is an inscription on Latin: "God save our Queen Victoria I." This is a kind of tribute to the empress, who ruled the country for more than 63 years; after all, it was in the Victorian era that the British Empire reached its peak. But the Big Ben bell itself is named after Lord Benjamin Hall. The British say that at a parliamentary meeting to discuss the name of the bell, Sir Hall made a long, boring speech.

Great clock of Westminster

And suddenly some joker shouted: "And call the bell Big Ben and end this hopeless business!" There was a burst of laughter in the House of Lords, which meant unanimous agreement. The fact is that Sir Hall had a solid physique and spoke in a loud bass, for which he received the nickname Big Ben, that is, Big Ben. According to another version, the watch was named not by the name of the lord, but by the name of the famous heavyweight boxer of that time. Visiting Big Ben In the 1920s, with the advent of radio, Big Ben became known throughout the world. Every hour the BBC radio station broadcasts the chiming clock live. In London, tourists are only allowed to watch the clock strike from the outside. Guests are not allowed to enter the clock tower of the palace, where the parliament sits, in order to exclude the terrorist threat. Only citizens of London and titled persons can climb up the spiral staircase of 334 steps and inspect internal organization clock and bells.