The word `clock’ may now be freely used to name any instrument that shows time. But its Dutch and Latin roots associate it with a bell. When it comes to clocks that chime, Big Ben is the most popular and the largest foursided clock in the world. Not only is the picture perfect image of the Westminster tower with gilded clock dial and the Thames in the foreground popular but also is its hourly chime. For many of us who grew up listening to BBC World service, the Westminster chime is one of the most familiar sounds
Gothic in style
Describing the Big Ben as a clock might not be entirely correct. Big Ben is the nickname of the hour bell of the clock and not the tower itself. The tower was part of the (then) new parliament building. The old parliament was earlier functioning at the same site – the Westminster Palace. In 1834, a raging fire destroyed most of the palace structures. To many parliamentarians, this accident was a `fortunate calamity’ because they could get a better building.
In 1835, a competition for the new parliament was floated. From the many entries, the building designed by Charles Bary and A.W. Pugin was chosen, for its `bold composition, visual unity and lacework of ornamentation’. It was clothed in Gothic architectural style since the selection committee considered it to be `patriotic, local and appropriate’. Construction began in 1840 and was ready to use in 1870.
Pugin designed the clock tower and the dial of the clock. The face of the clock measures seven m in diameter and is made up of 312 glass pieces. The frame of the dial is gilded and carries a Latin inscription on all its four sides. The clock works on gravity escapement mechanism designed by Edmund Denison.
The Big Ben was first cast in 1857 but it soon cracked. In 1859, it was recast and installed. The bell weighs 13.5 tons and measures 2.2 m in height and 2.7 m in diameter. Smaller chimes of the clock announced every quarter of an hour, while the Big Ben – the big bell, announced the hour.
The entire tune was adopted from the Cambridge chimes. It is said that `in calm weather the sound would be heard in a five miles radius’. For more than a century, the Big Ben has been ringing every hour expect for a few occasions when the clock stopped working.
The Westminster palace was declared as a world heritage site in 1987
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