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Bigben interactive uk1/25/2024 Four quarter bells chime at 15, 30 and 45 minutes past the hour and just before Big Ben tolls on the hour. ![]() The origin of the bell's nickname is open to question it may be named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw its installation, or heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt. It was the largest bell in the United Kingdom for 23 years. īig Ben is the largest of the tower's five bells and weighs 13.5 long tons (13.7 tonnes 15.1 short tons). On, celebrations were held to mark the tower's 150th anniversary. All four nations of the UK are represented on the tower on shields featuring a rose for England, thistle for Scotland, shamrock for Ireland, and leek for Wales. Dials of the clock are 22.5 feet (6.9 m) in diameter. Its base is square, measuring 40 feet (12 m) on each side. The tower stands 316 feet (96 m) tall, and the climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps. When completed in 1859, its clock was the largest and most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world. The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin in a neo-Gothic style. The official name of the tower in which Big Ben is located was originally the Clock Tower, but it was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. ![]() When black paint was stripped away from the dials during repair work last year, it was discovered that it was originally painted in a colour known as Prussian blue.51☃0′03″N 0☀7′28″W / 51.5007°N 0.1245°W / 51.5007 -0.1245 Coordinates: 51☃0′03″N 0☀7′28″W / 51.5007°N 0.1245°W / 51.5007 -0.1245īig Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The clock was designed and installed in 1859, with the aim of creating the most accurate public timepiece in the world. “Under the cover of darkness we effectively stop the clock and hold it for two hours, only restarting it again at midnight and putting the dial lights back on at 2am when it is officially GMT.” The parliamentary clock mechanic Alex Jeffrey said: “This is so people looking up do not wonder why the hands are going round and get confused. ![]() People will only be aware that Big Ben is being changed to GMT when the lights go out on its four dial faces at 10pm on Saturday. It will be the first time the clock has been put back to GMT since it was restored and installed in the tower earlier this year. “For the first time in five years they will be working with the clock’s completed original Victorian mechanism, so it is a significant final moment in the conservation of this magnificent timepiece.” Hoyle said: “While the rest of us are tucked up in our beds, our own father time Ian Westworth and the team will be clocking up 8 miles changing our parliamentary clocks, including the one we love the most, the Great Clock of Westminster, better known as Big Ben. The Elizabeth Tower, the clockwork and bell mechanism have been covered in scaffolding over the past five years while undergoing the biggest repair and conservation work in its 160-year history. It will take parliament’s team of clock mechanics 24 hours over the weekend to ensure that all 2,000 timepieces across the estate are changed in time for the clocks to go back.
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