40 facts you probably didn’t know about Big Ben

Large Ben, the Nice Bell of Elizabeth Tower in central London, is presently silenced as restoration work on the construction takes place (it is because of frequently chime once more in 2022). 

Whereas scaffolding obscures the landmark, listed here are 40 information to your arsenal about London’s beloved icon.

Large Ben information

1. Vacationers and locals alike typically say “Large Ben” when referring to the landmark tower on the Homes of Parliament. However that’s not fairly correct.

Previously often known as the Clock Tower, the construction was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012, in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It’s the bell inside that’s named Large Ben.

2. It’s believed Large Ben was named after Sir Benjamin Corridor, First Commissioner for Works, whose identify is inscribed on the bell. Others attest that the bell was named after Ben Caunt, a champion heavyweight boxer.

3. Warners of Norton close to Stockton-on-Tees forged a bell for the tower in August 1856.

4. The bell was initially meant to be known as Royal Victoria.

5. A fantastic sense of ceremony surrounded Large Ben’s arrival in London. It was introduced down the Thames by barge after which taken throughout Westminster Bridge by a carriage drawn by 16 white horses.

6. That bell cracked throughout testing in October 1857. A second substitute bell was forged by George Mears at London’s Whitechapel Foundry in April 1858.

7. That bell broke too. A crack developed in 1859 however the issue was solved when the bell was turned 1 / 4 clockwise and chimed with a lighter hammer.

8. Having operated from the identical Whitechapel Street premises since 1738, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry sadly ceased trading in May 2017.

9. Large Ben chimed for the primary time on July 11, 1859 however it could not ring for lengthy. That September, a crack brought on it to fall silent for 4 years. It has since been quietened on different events. For seven weeks in 2007 its chimes had been snuffed out so repairs may very well be made. It additionally fell silent throughout 9 months of repairs in 1976.

10. The BBC first broadcast Large Ben’s chimes to the nation throughout a New Yr’s Eve radio broadcast in 1923.

11. The bell’s strikes had been broadcast internationally for the primary time in 1932, throughout King George V’s Christmas broadcast on the Empire Service (later the World Service).

12. Large Ben and its chimes illustrate the distinction between the velocity of sunshine and sound. Stand by the bottom of the Elizabeth Tower and also you’ll hear the bell’s chimes about one-sixth of a second after the bell is struck. These listening to a dwell transmission of the bell by radio, nevertheless, will hear the bells earlier than you.

13. In 1940 the Silent Minute was launched. Earlier than the 9pm BBC radio information was broadcast every evening, members of the general public had been inspired to dedicate silent contemplation and prayer to these on the battlefields, for the 60 seconds that Large Ben would chime.

14. The bell has once more fallen silent. In 2017, in depth restore, conservation and refurbishment works begun and over sure months the clock mechanism must be stopped, with exceptions being made for essential occasions similar to London’s New Yr’s Eve celebrations and Remembrance Day.

15. Alternatives to admire the Elizabeth Tower are presently diminished too; scaffolding shrouds the tower.

16. The Elizabeth Tower stands 315ft (96 metres) tall and has 11 flooring.

17. Its basis stone was laid on September 28, 1843 and its foundations had been dug 10ft (3 metres) deep.

18. Its development required 850 cubic metres of stone and a couple of,600 cubic metres of bricks, with constructing supplies coming from Anston in Yorkshire; Caen in France; and Clipsham in Rutland (for restoration work that was carried out between 1983 and 1985).

19. Its development fell 5 years delayed and wasn’t accomplished till 1859.

20. The a hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Elizabeth Tower, the Nice Clock and Large Ben was celebrated in 2009. Thus far, Large Ben has rung by way of the reigns of six monarchs.

21. Large Ben weighs 13.7 tonnes, stands 7.2ft (2.2 metres) tall and has a diameter of 8.9ft (2.7 metres). The hammer weighs 200kg.

22. The musical be aware it makes when struck is E.

23. There are 4 smaller bells beneath Large Ben that ring on the ‘quarter’ hours. They strike the notes G sharp, F sharp, E and B.

24. Presently ascending the Elizabeth Tower to see Large Ben necessitates strolling up 334 steps to the belfry (and a complete of 399 to the lantern or Ayrton Gentle above it).

25. The renovation work will present the tower with its first bathroom.

26. The tower leans. It has an inclination of about 1/250 (0.04 levels) – nearly noticeable to passersby who take the time to review its exterior carefully.

27. The clock face has just lately had a color swap from black to blue in step with its authentic design. The arms and detailing had been blue when it was in-built 1859, however London’s smog and dirt regularly turned it black, so within the Eighties, the final time it bought a brand new coating, it was painted black to keep away from discolouration.

28. Every clock face is 23ft (seven metres) in diameter and composed of round 312 sections of opal glass. An hour hand is 9.2ft (2.8m) in size; a minute hand is 14ft (4.3m).

29. Every clock dial is illuminated by 28 energy-efficient bulbs at 85 watts every; every bulb has a lifetime of 60,000 hours.

30. You may inform when parliament is in session by wanting on the clock face. Set above it, the Ayrton Gentle is illuminated throughout that point.

31. The latin phrases below the clockface learn Domine Salvam Fac Reginam Nostram Victoriam Primam, which suggests “O Lord, maintain protected our Queen Victoria the First”

32. From 1939 to April 1945, the clock dials had been unlit in compliance with wartime blackout guidelines.

33. On the evening of Might 10, 1941 a German plane launched a bomb that hit the highest of the clock tower. Decorative ironwork and stonework was destroyed however makes an attempt to destroy it fully had been fortunately unsuccessful.

34. The clock itself is correct to inside one second.

35. The clock was designed by Edmund Beckett Denison and Edward Dent. Surprisingly, Beckett Denison educated as a lawyer slightly than as a clockmaker.

36. The Elizabeth Tower is certainly one of London’s most enduringly well-known movie and tv stars. It has featured within the likes of 28 Days Later, V for Vendetta, Misplaced, Physician Who, Thunderball and Mary Poppins.

37. The idiom of placing a penny on, with the which means of slowing down, sprang from the strategy of fine-tuning the clock’s pendulum.

38. Including or subtracting outdated penny cash from a pile on the pendulum has the impact of minutely altering the speed at which the pendulum swings. A single penny will change the clock’s velocity by two fifths of 1 second per day.

39. The clock face’s time has been altered in different methods. In 1944, a flock of starlings rested on one of many arms and had been sufficiently heavy in weight to gradual the time-keeping mechanism. On New Yr’s Eve 1962, in the meantime, heavy snow and ice brought on Large Ben to chime within the New Yr 10 minutes late.

40. Vacationers who wish to admire the clock tower shut up would possibly have to make do with Little Ben in Victoria. A 20ft (6m) metallic reproduction of the Elizabeth Tower, it contains a working clock however is a sombre black slightly than the unique’s golden hue.