Elizabeth Tower, where the
bell resides, stands 316 feet (96 meters) tall.
The bell can be
heard as far as 9 miles away.
The clock that Ben rings for
weighs about 5 1/2 tons, each of the four clock faces is 23 ft. in
diameter, the hour hands are 9 ft long, the minute hands are 14 ft. long
and the numbers are 2 ft high.
History of the Big Ben
The story behind
Big Ben is quite an interesting. In 1834 Westminster Palace was
destroyed by fire. A decade later it was decided that the new building
for the House of Parliament should have a tower that would include a
clock. There was more than one attempt to make a massive bell by John
Warner and Sons at Stockton-on-Tees. The massive original bell cracked
so it was melted down and replaced with a new bell in Whitechapel in
1858. A year later on May 31, the bell rang for the first time in
Westminster. Many months later in September the bell cracked again so
the hammer was replaced with a lighter one and the bell was just rotated
so the damaged side could not be seen. This is the same bell is rings
every hour today.
Great Bell
The Great Bell is really known by it’s nickname Big
Ben, which is the largest bell in the tower and is part of the Great
Clock of Westminster. The very first bell weighed 16 tons and was cast
by John Warner and Sons. The bell was named in honor of Sir Benjamin
Hall, and his name is inscribed on it but some people like to believe
the name came from a heavyweight boxer named Benjamin Caunt. Some people
think that the original name of the bell should be Royal Victoria or
Victoria to show respect for Queen Victoria.
Before the tower was finished the bell was placed in New Palace Yard.
Later, the first bell was moved to the tower on a trolley which was
drawn by 16 horses followed by a cheering crowd. Unfortunately, as
mentioned earlier, the bell was cracked beyond repair while being
tested so it had to be replaced. The new bell was installed on April
1858.
Temperature for the whole month
Months
Normal
Warmest
Coldest
January
5.9°C
8.3°C
3.7°C
February
6.0°C
8.5°C
3.4°C
March
8.0°C
11.1°C
5.0°C
April
9.9°C
13.5°C
6.4°C
May
13.3°C
17.1°C
9.4°C
June
16.2°C
20.0°C
12.3°C
July
18.6°C
22.5°C
14.7°C
August
18.6°C
22.5°C
14.7°C
September
15.9°C
19.3°C
12.5°C
October
12.4°C
15.3°C
9.6°C
November
8.7°C
11.2°C
6.2°C
December
6.9°C
9.1°C
4.7°C
Movement of Clock
The clock’s movement
is most famous for being very reliable. Edmund Beckett Denison and
George Airy were the designers of the movements of the clock but the
construction was completed by clockmaker Edward John Dent. Before
completion of the work, Edward John Dent died and his stepson Frederick
Dent finished the project for him in 1854. Since the tower was not
completed until 1859 he had enough time to experiment with different
things. So the pendulum was installed within an enclosed windproof box
that was underneath the clock room. It is 13 feet long, weighs 660
pounds and beats every 2 seconds. On top of the pendulum is a small
stack of pennies that was used to adjust the time of the clock. Each
penny had an important role because removing or adding a penny would
change the clock’s speed by at least 0.4 seconds a day.
