Big Ben - The Elizabeth Tower
The name Big Ben is often used to describe the tower, the clock and the bell but the name was first given to the Great Bell.
The Elizabeth Tower, which stands at the north end of the Houses of Parliament, was completed in 1859 and the Great Clock started on 31 May, with the Great Bell's strikes heard for the first time on 11 July and the quarter bells first chimed on 7 September.
Whitehall is a road in the City of Westminster, Central London, which forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Square. The street is recognised as the centre of Her Majesty's Government and is lined with numerous departments and ministries including the Ministry of Defence, Horse Guards and the Cabinet Office. Consequently, the name "Whitehall" is used as a metonym for British central governmental administration, and the geographic name for the surrounding area.
The name Big Ben is often used to describe the tower, the clock and the bell but the name was first given to the Great Bell which was first struck on the 7 September 1859
The clock tower looks spectacular at night when the four clock faces are illuminated.
•Each dial is 23 feet square (49.15 sq m)
•Big Ben's minute hands are 14 feet long (4.26 m)
•The figures on the face of Big Ben are 2 feet high
A special light above the clock faces is also illuminated, letting the public know when parliament is in session.
Big Ben's timekeeping is strictly regulated by a stack of coins placed on the huge pendulum. Big Ben has rarely stopped. Even after a bomb destroyed the Commons chamber during the Second World War, the clock tower survived and Big Ben continued to strike the hours.
The chimes of Big Ben were first broadcast by the BBC on 31 December 1923, a tradition that continues to this day.
Big Ben - The Elizabeth Tower
The name Big Ben is often used to describe the tower, the clock and the bell but the name was first given to the Great Bell.
The Elizabeth Tower, which stands at the north end of the Houses of Parliament, was completed in 1859 and the Great Clock started on 31 May, with the Great Bell's strikes heard for the first time on 11 July and the quarter bells first chimed on 7 September.
Whitehall is a road in the City of Westminster, Central London, which forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Square. The street is recognised as the centre of Her Majesty's Government and is lined with numerous departments and ministries including the Ministry of Defence, Horse Guards and the Cabinet Office. Consequently, the name "Whitehall" is used as a metonym for British central governmental administration, and the geographic name for the surrounding area.
The name Big Ben is often used to describe the tower, the clock and the bell but the name was first given to the Great Bell which was first struck on the 7 September 1859
The clock tower looks spectacular at night when the four clock faces are illuminated.
•Each dial is 23 feet square (49.15 sq m)
•Big Ben's minute hands are 14 feet long (4.26 m)
•The figures on the face of Big Ben are 2 feet high
A special light above the clock faces is also illuminated, letting the public know when parliament is in session.
Big Ben's timekeeping is strictly regulated by a stack of coins placed on the huge pendulum. Big Ben has rarely stopped. Even after a bomb destroyed the Commons chamber during the Second World War, the clock tower survived and Big Ben continued to strike the hours.
The chimes of Big Ben were first broadcast by the BBC on 31 December 1923, a tradition that continues to this day.