A guide to the Palace of Westminster - Shaftesbury Hotels Blog A guide to the Palace of Westminster Post navigation A guide to the Palace of Westminster Posted on by David . The Palace of Westminster is the heart of the UK’s democratic system, as it is where the nation’s major executive and legislative decisions are made. Situated on the north bank of Thames in central London, the palace – otherwise known as the Houses of Parliament – is a major landmark and has become a famous symbol of Britain throughout the world. History The name ‘Palace of Westminster’ derives from the original royal palace that occupied the site, which was built by William II between 1097 and 1099. However, the area’s history as a seat of power pre-dates the Norman conquest of England, and it is thought to have been used as a royal residence by the Danish king Canute the Great during his reign from 1016 to 1035. The Anglo-Saxon king Edward the Confessor built a royal palace on Thorney Island just west of the City of London at about the same time as Westminster Abbey was constructed (1045–50).

After the construction of the palace by William II, it served as the main residence of the English monarch until much of the complex was destroyed by fire in 1512. Parliament had been meeting at the site since the thirteenth century, and following the fire it came to occupy the area permanently. The current building – the New Palace – dates back to the nineteenth century and was built as a replacement for the old palace, which was destroyed by another fire in 1834. Its design was inspired by the English Perpendicular Gothic style of the 14th-16th centuries and its construction was a laborious process, lasting for 30 years. Work on the interior of the building continued into the early 20th century. The only surviving features of the old parliament building are the Cloisters of St Stephen’s, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, and the Jewel Tower. Since then, the palace has undergone extensive renovations to reverse the damage sustained during the second world war and the effects of air pollution on the exterior of the building.

It has also experienced a number of acts of violence – the most famous of which was the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when a group of English Catholics attempted to blow up the House of Lords during the state opening of parliament, in an attempt to assassinate the Protestant King James I. Although it has changed frequently throughout its fascinating history, the Palace of Westminster has endured as a symbol of the UK’s democratic system and remains a hugely popular destination for tourists from around the world, who consider it to be one of the capital’s ‘must-see’ attractions. The House of Commons Democratically elected Members of Parliament (MPs) from across the country gather in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom to consider and propose new laws, and scrutinise government policies. The house had its origins in the 14th century, when a House of Commons of England came into existence. Following the act of union with Scotland in 1707, it became the House of Commons of Great Britain and finally adopted its current name after political union with Ireland in the 19th century.

Over time, the House of Commons gradually limited the power of the monarch – a process that contributed to the outbreak of the English Civil War and the trial and execution of Charles I in 1649. It is now home to 650 MPs, who originate bills that affect the governance of the UK. The government is scrutinised during Question Time, when members have the opportunity to question the prime minister and members of the cabinet. The House of Lords The House of Commons is the lower chamber of the Houses of Parliament, and the House of Lords forms the upper chamber. In contrast to the lower chamber, whose members are elected, the Lords who sit in the upper chamber are appointed. The House of Lords was previously more powerful than the House of Commons due to the fact that its members were drawn from the nobility. However, its importance has waned over time and its main purpose is now to scrutinise legislation made in the lower chamber. Hereditary peerages were once common, but the House of Lords are now appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister or the House of Lords Appointments Commission. Big Ben The clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster is one of its most distinctive features.

Although the term ‘Big Ben’ is the nickname given to the bell, it is often used to refer to the entire clock tower, which is officially called the Elizabeth Tower after Queen Elizabeth II. Completed in 1858, the Elizabeth Tower is the second largest four-faced chiming clock in the world and is famed for its reliability. Filmmakers frequently use the tower as a signal to viewers that action is taking place in the UK, and its cultural significance is such that it is the focus of New Year’s Eve celebrations throughout the land on December 31st. Visiting the Palace of Westminster Few visitors to London will want to miss the chance to see the Houses of Parliament, which are one of the capital’s defining landmarks. The Palace of Westminster is open to people from the UK and overseas, who can attend debates, watch committee hearings or take a guided tour of the buildings. Special guided tours are available on Saturdays throughout the year and on most weekdays during parliamentary recesses. Self-guided audio tours can also take place during these periods. Visitors to the House of Lords from the UK and overseas are able to book tickets for fully guided tours focusing on the art and decorative arts of the building.

The 75-minute tours, which take place in the early evening, enable people to experience the fascinating frescoes, portraits, statues, thrones, fireplaces and furniture that were created by some of the finest British artists. Tickets, which cost £35 for adults, are now available for the tours, which will take place from Wednesday to Friday between August 5th and August 28th 2015. Tickets for these tours can be purchased from the Ticket Office, which is located at the front of Portcullis House. Westminster Station, which is served by the District, Circle and Jubilee lines, is a stone’s throw from the Palace of Westminster. After exiting the station, the site can be reached simply by crossing the road. A number of buses stop near Parliament Square in Victoria Street (opposite the Houses of Parliament) and further up towards Trafalgar Square, in Whitehall, putting the palace within easy reach of hotels in shaftesbury group London . If you’re cycling, public bicycle racks are a short distance away outside 7 Millbank Road. From here, the Houses of Parliament are a short walk north along the road.

Share the post "A guide to the Palace of Westminster" Big Ben in London Looks like there's not enough activity around Big Ben to show here today. Ever wondered how the Big Ben Time is changed? Find out here: #bigben #london Posted by Daniel Gennaoui - 2 years ago See image Pic of bobby at Big Ben is part of our gallery of historic photos of London police. For more: Posted by Evening Standard - 2 years ago See image APPLE MAPS: New feature can be seen on Big Ben - which now moves & displays the correct time Posted by slone - 2 years ago See image Fireworks light up the London skyline and Big Ben just after midnight ... Posted by Üsküdarlı - 2 years ago Victoria Embankment & Big Ben, London, England Posted by World In Pictures - 2 years ago [London Bus Tour]"On our left we have, um, well it's a large clock""THAT'S BIG BEN"Ben, the tourguide "It sure is big, but no shouting" Posted by Sean Leahy - 2 years ago Big Ben at sunset.

@ London Eye + Big Ben Posted by Katie Harbath - 2 years ago See image What is the most interesting attraction in London this month? Big Ben? London Eye? Buckingham Palace? No, it's... Posted by IBJJF - 2 years ago So beautiful , peaceful 💙💙💙 @ London Eye + Big Ben Posted by Anaxagorou AnnaMaria - 2 years ago See image Hello Big Ben, lovely to meet you once more #lovemylife #livingluxury #London2015 @ Big Ben Posted by Maite Zeron - 2 years ago See image I even found road defect outside MPs offices by Big Ben, when I met @RichardBurdenMP so what chance do we have? Posted by Mr Pothole - 2 years ago Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) Palace of Westminster, London, UK Posted by world traveller - 2 years ago Lovely first day in London... First time at the Natural History Museum & first time I've ever heard Big Ben bong in real life!

Posted by - CLARE; - 2 years ago Peace 2 All Live From The UK ✌️ @ Big Ben, London Posted by GCG SUPPLIER - 2 years ago See image A4 Love in London - Red Heart Balloons Over London Skyline with Big Ben, Art Print #Etsy #Hearts Posted by Carla Tracy - 2 years ago "I travel to London off an on. It's a beautiful place to be in. The river Thames, Big Ben and the trams of the city fascinate me." - Salman Posted by Just Salman Khan_FC™ - 2 years ago Ben Franks signs for London Irish. Big statement of intent Posted by ByTheMin RugbyU - 2 years ago Big Ben ! Saturday at London ! #london #uk #bigben #turist #turist @ London Eye + Big Ben Posted by Mindblow - 2 years ago See image Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, National Gallery... What's your favourite Westminster attraction? Posted by Visit London - 2 years ago See image If zayn ever blocked me i would deactivate my acc, pack my bags, get on a plane to London and throw myself of the Big Ben.

Posted by fernanda loves niall - 2 years ago தமிழன் டா! Accuracy comparison between Big Ben London, Leaning tower Italy, Big Temple Thanjavur & Suurhusen Germany. Posted by யஹ்யா⤴ - 2 years ago If EXO lived in London- the Houses of Parliament would be SM ent - Big Ben would be music bank - the London eye would be EXO's dorm Posted by slaying since 99 - 2 years ago Big Ben Fireworks 🎉🎆🎇🎊🏫🇬🇧 #newyear #london Posted by Brandon Reece Taylor - 2 years ago Just driven past speakers on London Embankment as they tested them for Big Ben at midnight. ****! It's gonna be loud! Posted by Paul Mason - 2 years ago The fact that Big Ben was built in 1858 and still looks this outstanding in 2014 Posted by nick - 2 years ago #London #BigBen Big Ben Glowing with Sunset........

by Hiroshi Jinza #Sunset cc @RussellMarsh Posted by Geoff De Weaver - 2 years ago Merry Christmas everyone!!Joy to the world and God grant us peace on earth! @ London Eye + Big Ben Posted by sheryl lee ralph - 2 years ago See image Bye London👋 RT @Burberry: A festive view of #London at dawn - from Trafalgar Square to Big Ben Posted by Marc - 2 years ago See image London NYE ticket's available for Adam Lambert & Queen RT @cam0_o: @GayEssential Posted by Gay Essential - 2 years ago See image Behind the clock face of Big Ben, #London 1920s. via @History_Pics Posted by Diario Di Bordo - 2 years ago Westminster & Palace of Westminster, London, England Westminster & Palace of Westminster, London, England Westminster & Palace of Westminster, London, England Ashburnham House Ashburnham House is an extended seventeenth-century house on Little Dean's Yard in Westminster, London, United Kingdom, and since 1882 has been part of Westminster School. It is occasionally open to the public, when its staircase and front drawing room in particular can be seen to be superb.

There has been a building on the site since the 11th century. The current house incorporates remains of the medieval Prior's House, and its garden is the site of the monks' refectory, and some of the earliest sittings of the House of Commons: one instance in which they met in the refectory was to impeach Piers Gaveston, in the time of Edward II.[1] The current Ashburnham House took its present form around the time of the Restoration when it was leased by Charles Ashburnham, a friend of Charles II.[2] It subsequently became a London seat for the family that became the Earls of Ashburnham. As the staircase has the characteristics of work by Inigo Jones or his pupil John Webb the design of the house was for many years attributed to them.

Now however the house as a whole is attributed to architect William Samwell.[3] The Ashburnham family lived in the house until John, 1st Earl Ashburnham sold the lease to the crown in 1730.[4] It became the repository for the Cotton library of historic manuscripts (originally assembled by Sir Robert Cotton), to which was later added the Old Royal Library; and also a residence for the keeper of the king's libraries, Richard Bentley. These books and manuscripts now form the heart of the collections of the British Library. A fire in Ashburnham House on 23 October 1731 damaged many items: a contemporary records Bentley leaping from a window with the priceless Codex Alexandrinus under one arm.

The manuscript of Beowulf was among those that suffered damage, a fact reported in The Gentleman's Magazine.[5] In 1739 the Dean and Chapter bought the property from the Crown for ₤500.[6] The house was the object of a scandalous legal and parliamentary battle between the canons of Westminster Abbey and Westminster School for twenty years after the Clarendon Commission recommended that Westminster Abbey surrender it to the School upon the demise of its current occupant, the redoubtable sub-dean The Reverend Lord John Thynne, who lived there with his equally formidable wife and nine children. The Dean and Chapter attempted to evade their obligations under the Public Schools Act, by purportedly using their control of the School's Governing Body to sell out the school's statutory right for the benefit of the Canons. Even after this was defeated by a debate in Parliament, Lord John survived until 1881, once surprising the headmaster looking over his garden wall with the words "Not Dead Yet, Dr.

Gow!" The house was the original location of Westminster's first day-house, also known as Ashburnham House, from when it was founded until it moved in 1951 to 6 Dean's Yard. During the Second World War, the library was used as a communications station for the Royal Air Force, the ground floor as the American officers' "Churchill Club", and a senior conference facility for secret military purposes. In 1969, it was used as one of the locations for The Magic Christian. Bridgewater House Bridgewater House, Westminster is at 14 Cleveland Row, Westminster, London, England. It is a Grade I listed building.[1] The earliest known house on the site was Berkshire House built in about 1626-27 for Thomas Howard, second son of the Earl of Suffolk and Master of the Horse to Charles I of England when he was Prince of Wales.[2] Howard was later created Earl of Berkshire.

After being occupied by Parliamentarian troops in the English Civil War, used for the Portuguese Embassy, and lived in by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, the house was lived in by Charles II's mistress Barbara Villiers, who was made Duchess of Cleveland in 1670, following which the house was known as Cleveland House. She refaced the old house and added new wings. After being owned for some years by a speculator the house was sold in 1700 to John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater, after which it passed by inheritance until 1948.[3] Cleveland House was re-designed in the Palazzo style by Sir Charles Barry in 1840 and the rebuilding was completed and renamed in 1854 for Lord Ellesmere, heir of the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. It is built in Bath stone with a slate roof in three storeys with a basement.

It was famous, in both incarnations, as the site of the Stafford Galley (in Cleveland House) and Bridgewater Gallery (in Bridgewater House), where the collections of paintings of the Duke of Bridgewater and his nephew and heir George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland (whose second son Ellesmere was) were on at least semi-public display. The collection included about 70 paintings from the famous Orleans Collection, some of which are now in the Sutherland Loan to the National Gallery of Scotland. The collection was opened in 1803, and could be visited on Wednesday afternoons over four, later three, months in the summer by "acquaintances" of a member of the family, or artists recommended by a member of the Royal Academy.[4] The building was damaged in the Second World War and has since been adapted for office use.[1] The painting Charles I Insulted by Cromwell's Soldiers, thought lost in the raid, was rediscovered in 2009. In 1981 Bridgewater House was purchased and restored by Greek shipping magnate Yiannis Latsis,[5] and is still owned by his family.

Montagu House Montagu House, Whitehall was the name of two mansions in Whitehall in Westminster, Central London, England. In 1731, John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, abandoned the existing grand Montagu House in the socially declining district of Bloomsbury, which was later to become the premises of the British Museum, and purchased a site that had once been occupied by the Archbishops of York's London residence and had later been part of the site of Whitehall Palace. He built himself a relatively modest mansion in the conventional style of the day, which can be seen in Canaletto's painting of Whitehall. In the late 1850s, the 2nd Duke of Montagu's descendant, Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch, one of the United Kingdom's three or four richest landowners, replaced the Georgian house with one of the grandest private mansions in London. It was designed by the versatile Scottish architect William Burn in the style of a French Renaissance chateau. The building was admired in its day. It was built of Portland stone, with a steep mansard roof, corner towers and a skyline peppered with stone chimneys.

The interior featured a top-lit central saloon and a grand staircase, heavily coffered ceilings and elaborately carved furnishings. It housed part of the exceptional Buccleuch art collection, including works by Rubens and Rembrandt and the finest British collection of miniatures apart from the Royal Collection. In 1917 the house was taken over for use as government offices, and in 1949-1950 it was demolished. The site forms roughly the southern half of that of the current main Ministry of Defence building in Whitehall. Stratford House Stratford House a Grade I listed house in Stratford Place, Westminster. Built by Richard Edwin for Edward Stratford, 2nd Earl of Aldborough between 1770 and 1776 as London seat of the Stratford family. It is the current home of the Oriental Club. Palace of Westminster - Houses of Parliament Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is the oldest building in Parliament and almost the only part of the ancient Palace of Westminster which survives in almost its original form. The Hall was built in 1097 under William II (Rufus), the son of William the Conqueror, and was completed two years later.

He had conceived the project to impress his new subjects with his power and the majesty of his authority. According to one story, when the King first inspected the Hall, one of his attendants remarked that it was much larger than needed. The King replied that the Hall was not half large enough, and that it was a mere bedchamber when compared to what he had in mind. But the Hall was indeed by far the largest hall in England, and probably in Europe at that time. Did you know? The walls of Westminster Hall are actually slightly curved, making it two feet and six inches wider in the centre than at its ends. Old and New Palace Yards Old and New Palace Yards were two of the main courtyards of the medieval Palace of Westminster. During the time of Edward the Confessor, Old Palace Yard connected the Palace with Westminster Abbey, and was a quiet secluded spot where one could meditate or rest.

Old Palace Yard was at the centre of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605; Guy Fawkes and his confederates rented one of the houses which ran in a row across the centre of the Yard, and first began to tunnel through to the House of Lords, until they found it simpler to hire a cellar under the House itself. Captured and pronounced guilty, they were hanged from a scaffold erected in the Yard. In 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded in the Yard. His widow took his head away, wrapped in his cloak, and kept it for over twenty years in a glass case until she died. The statue of Richard the Lionheart by Baron Marochetti now stands in the Yard. A model of the statue was first shown at the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park in 1851, and various noblemen subscribed £3,000 to have it cast in bronze and presented to the nation. New Palace Yard lies in front of the north end of Westminster Hall.

It was named New after the Hall was built by William II (Rufus) in 1097, to distinguish it from Old Palace Yard and the great hall of Edward the Confessor's Palace which lay to the south. It now conceals a five-level underground car park with space for 450 cars, constructed in 1972-4. An archaeological investigation undertaken at that time yielded much information about the history of the Yard. In particular, it revealed the octagonal base of a large canopied fountain built in 1443 by Henry VI. This fountain, which incorporated the remains of an early 12th century conduit, stood in the yard until the late 17th century. The Yard has since been laid out as a garden, with a fountain that commemorates the Queen's Silver Jubilee of 1977. The Palace of Westminster became increasingly important as the centre of government and royal authority during the reign of King Henry III.

New exchequer buildings were built along the north end of the Great Hall (Westminster Hall) around 1270, and the Court of Common Pleas (which the Magna Carta in 1215 demanded to be held in a fixed place) came to be located within the Palace, as well as Courts of the King's Bench and of Chancery. In 1245, the first mention is made of a royal throne which stood on a dais against the south wall of Westminster Hall. The throne symbolised the King's continuous presence at the ceremonial heart of the Palace, and was occupied during great occasions of state. From as early as 1259, the state openings of parliamentary occasions were held in the King's private apartment at Westminster, the Painted Chamber. It is not clear where Parliament under Simon de Montfort met in 1265 when they got to Westminster. It may have met in St Paul's for some of its debates and discussions, or used the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey.

The Westminster parliaments of Edward I sat in the Painted Chamber, or in the adjacent White Chamber (which eventually became the House of Lords), or sometimes in the Chapter House or Refectory at Westminster Abbey. St Stephen's Chapel 1184-1363 First mentioned in 1184, the Chapel of St Stephen was initially the King's private chapel at the Palace of Westminster, and stood on the site of what is now St Stephen's Hall. When King Edward I began to rebuild the Chapel between 1292 and 1297, he set out to create a rival to anything built by any other monarch, particularly his cousin Louis IX's Sainte Chapelle in Paris. The king was long dead by the time craftsmen finished St Stephen's seventy years later. The actual construction work went on for only twenty years, as it constantly had to be stopped and restarted as the royal finances ebbed and flowed.In designing the Chapel, the King's mason, Michael of Canterbury, attempted to create a delicate harmony between its whole and component parts. This simple idea had a strong influence on the subsequent development of English architecture, and particularly the Gothic style.

The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft was completed by King Edward I in 1297, further developed under Edward II, and finally completed by Edward III in around 1365. While St Stephen's Chapel was the chapel of the Royal Family, the Court and the Royal Household worshipped at St Mary Undercroft. Houses of Parliament, St Stephen's Crypt - Watercolour by Edward M. Barry c.1863 (WOA 1601) By the time of the fire of 1834, the Chapel had been used as a wine cellar and (so legend has it) as stabling for Oliver Cromwell's horses. Speaker's dining room Part of the Chapel had also been turned into a dining room for the Speaker of the Commons, and holes were bored into the wall to accommodate the kitchen chimneys. Because of its underground location, the Crypt Chapel was one of the few structures in the Palace of Westminster to survive the great fire of 1834, although much of its stonework was harmed.

The chapel was heavily restored between 1860 and 1870 by Charles Barry's (the architect of the current Palace of Westminster) son, Edward, who tried to reproduce the earlier medieval decoration and vaulting in a neo-Gothic style. During the restoration works, the remains of William Lyndwoode, the Bishop of St David's (who died in 1464) were found embalmed in the chapel's north wall; he was reburied in the cloister of Westminster Abbey. The decision to reinstate the building as a chapel was much debated, but it was slowly brought into use as one. The Chapel is a Royal Peculiar, which means it does not come under the jurisdiction of a bishop but is under the monarch's control. The monarch exercises this via the Lord Great Chamberlain. The Jewel Tower, which still stands today, is one of four surviving sections of the medieval Palace of Westminster, the others being Westminster Hall, the Cloisters and Chapter House of St Stephen's, and the Chapel of St Mary's Undercroft.

The Tower was built by King Edward III between 1365 and 1366 on land appropriated from Westminster Abbey at the edge of the Privy Garden (a private garden adjacent to the royal apartments) at the south-west corner of the Palace. In those days, the medieval palace extended right to this point. The monks, however, bitterly resented this encroachment, and rejoiced when William Usshebourne, one of King Edward's keepers of the Privy Palace, choked to death on the bones of a pike caught in the moat surrounding the Jewel Tower. The three-storey building was intended to serve as a storeroom for the king's private collection of jewels, gold and silver, which were administered at that time as a branch of the King's Privy Wardrobe. It is likely that space was found for these at Westminster as the main Privy Wardrobe (at the Tower of London) was filled with military supplies and equipment during the French War. The Tower was designed by Henry Yevele, the most famous architect of the day. It was constructed largely of Kentish rag stone, and contained a moat and medieval quay for protection against fire and thieves (their remains are still visible today).

In 1547, Edward VI granted the Commons the use of the Chapel after the dissolution of St Stephen's College. When the MPs moved in, they found the arrangement of choir stalls for the choir and a screen near one end of the Chapel still in place. So they simply took over both stalls and screen for their purposes; they sat in the choir stalls and made speeches to each other across the aisle of the Chapel. This configuration may have in fact encouraged the development of the two-party system, of government versus opposition, in British political life. If the Commons had continued to sit in the octagonal Chapel House, the political history of Britain might have been very different. The MPs also made ingenious use of the screen which the canons left behind; those who voted in favour of a motion would walk through its right-hand door, while those who did not would exit through the left door. Today, MPs voting aye continue to file out to the lobby on the right, and those voting no, to the lobby on the left. The Chapel of St Stephen's was home to the Commons Chamber for over 300 years.

As such it was the setting for many of the great political events of early modern England: Great parliamentarians such as Robert Walpole, William Pitt and Charles James Fox all debated here The religious issues which culminated in the Articles of the Reformation were fought out in the Chapel William Wilberforce pleaded here for the abolition of the slave trade The bills which led to the Great Reform Act were debated here It was in the Chapel that Charles I attempted to arrest five Members and confronted its Speaker, William Lenthall in the lead up to the Civil War In 1812, Spencer Perceval was shot dead by John Bellingham in the lobby in front of the Chapel, the only British Prime Minster to have been assassinated In 1692, the House of Commons concluded that the Chapel was in desperate need of restoration. Sir Christopher Wren redesigned the structure as a classical building, with wall panels and internal galleries to each side. The vaulted roof was also hidden by a lower wooden one, presumably to improve its acoustics.

When the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707 resulted in the addition of 45 new MPs, Wren tried to squeeze in the new members by widening the galleries he had put in a few years before. By the 19th century, the Chapel's interior had a very different look in contrast to its former medieval magnificence. The Commons stayed in the Chapel until the Great Fire of 1834 Architects were invited to submit their designs for the new Palace and a commission was set up to select the best. Out of 97 designs submitted, the architect Sir Charles Barry's was successful. However, his winning design did not feature a clock tower. He added this to his design in 1836. Elizabeth Tower, Clock and Big Ben Construction of the Clock Tower began in September 1843. This is the iconic tower which stands today in the Houses of Parliament. Charles Barry was a fine architect but he was not a specialist clockmaker. He sought advice from a friend, Benjamin Lewis Vullamy, after adding a prominent clock tower to his design for rebuilding Parliament after the 1834 fire. Vulliamy was the Queen's Clockmaker.

He began designing a clock for Barry's tower. Other respected clockmakers, like Edward John Dent, wanted to be involved and disputes broke out. In 1846 a competition was held to decide who should build the clock. The Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airy, was appointed referee and set out high standards for the clock to meet. These included: the first stroke of each hour to be accurate to within one second the clock's performance to be telegraphed twice a day to Greenwich Observatory Seven years delay Airy's demanding standards led to delays which lasted seven years. During this time Airy appointed Edmund Beckett Denison to support him in his decision. Denison was a barrister and also a gifted amateur clockmaker. In February 1852, Dent was appointed to build the clock to Denison's own design. The next delay occurred when it was discovered space inside the tower was too small for the planned clock design. Modifications costing £100 had to be made. Dent died in 1853 and his stepson, Frederick, completed the clock in 1854. It cost £2500 to make. There was another delay because the Clock Tower wasn't finished on schedule.

Until installation in 1859, the clock was kept at Dent's factory. Denison made many refinements including inventing the 'Double Three-legged Gravity Escapement'. This was a revolutionary mechanism, ensuring the clock's accuracy by making sure its pendulum was unaffected by external factors, such as wind pressure on the clock's hands. Denison's invention has since been used in clocks all over the world. It is also known as the 'Grimthorpe Escapement' as Denison was made Baron Grimthorpe in 1886. The clock was installed in the Clock Tower in April 1859. At first, it wouldn't work as the cast-iron minute hands were too heavy. Once they were replaced by lighter copper hands, it successfully began keeping time on 31 May 1859. It was not long before the chimes of the Great Bell, also known as Big Ben, joined in. Officially, the Elizabeth Tower's bell is called the Great Bell though it is better known by the name 'Big Ben'. There are two theories for this name's origin.

These are that the Great Bell was: named after Sir Benjamin Hall, First Commissioner for Works 1855-1858 named after Ben Caunt, a champion heavyweight boxer of the 1850s The first theory is thought to be the most likely. The name 'Big Ben' is often associated with the Elizabeth Tower and the Great Clock as well as the Great Bell. It was to the Great Bell that the name originally was given. Warners of Norton near Stockton-on-Tees cast the new bell in August 1856. It was transported by rail and sea to London. On arrival at the Port of London, it was placed on a carriage and pulled across Westminster Bridge by 16 white horses. The bell was hung in New Palace Yard. It was tested each day until 17 October 1857 when a 1.2m crack appeared. No-one would accept the blame. Theories included the composition of the bell's metal or its dimensions. Warners blamed Denison for insisting on increasing the hammer's weight from 355kg to 660kg.

Warners asked too high a price to break up and recast the bell so George Mears at the Whitechapel Foundry was appointed. The second bell was cast on 10 April 1858. This bell was 2.5 tonnes lighter than the first. Its dimensions meant it was too large to fit up the Elizabeth Tower's shaft vertically so Big Ben was turned on its side and winched up. It took 30 hours to winch the bell to the belfry in October 1858. The four quarter bells, which chime on the quarter hour, were already in place. Big Ben rang out on 11 July 1859 but its success was short-lived. In September 1859, the new bell also cracked and Big Ben was silent for four years. During this time, the hour was struck on the fourth quarter bell. In 1863, a solution was found to Big Ben's silence by Sir George Airy, the Astronomer Royal.

Big Ben was turned by a quarter turn so the hammer struck a different spot the hammer was replaced by a lighter version a small square was cut into the bell to prevent the crack from spreading The total cost of making the clock and bells and installing them in the Elizabeth Tower reached £22,000. Apart from occasional stoppages Big Ben has struck ever since. Big Ben - UK Parliament Big Ben From the Parliamentary collections: Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower Big Ben 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. Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster | OpenBuildings Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster Basic Our community will thank you.

References Wikipedia , licensed under the GFDL Suggestions View original size Report Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well. It is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. It celebrated its 150th anniversary on 31 May 2009, during which celebratory events took place. The clock was finished being built on 10 April 1858. The clock tower has become one of the most prominent symbols of both London and England, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city. Tower The present Clock Tower was raised as a part of Charles Barry's design for a new palace, after the old Palace of Westminster was largely destroyed by fire on the night of 16 October 1834. The new Parliament was built in a Neo-gothic style. Although Barry was the chief architect of the Palace, he turned to Augustus Pugin for the design of the Clock Tower, which resembles earlier Pugin designs, including one for Scarisbrick Hall.

The design for the Clock Tower was Pugin's last design before his final descent into madness and death, and Pugin himself wrote, at the time of Barry's last visit to him to collect the drawings: "I never worked so hard in my life for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all the designs for finishing his bell tower & it is beautiful." The tower is designed in Pugin's celebrated Gothic Revival style, and is 96.3 metres (316 ft) high (roughly 16 stories). The bottom 61 metres (200 ft) of the Clock Tower's structure consists of brickwork with sand coloured Anston limestone cladding. The remainder of the tower's height is a framed spire of cast iron. The tower is founded on a 15-metre (49 ft) square raft, made of 3-metre (9.8 ft) thick concrete, at a depth of 4 metres (13 ft) below ground level. The four clock dials are 55 metres (180 ft) above ground. The interior volume of the tower is 4,650 cubic metres (164,200 cubic feet).

Despite being one of the world's most famous tourist attractions, the interior of the tower is not open to overseas visitors, though United Kingdom residents are able to arrange tours (well in advance) through their Member of Parliament. However, the tower has no lift, so those escorted must climb the 334 limestone stairs to the top. Because of changes in ground conditions since construction (notably tunnelling for the Jubilee Line extension), the tower leans slightly to the north-west, by roughly 220 millimetres (8.66 in) at the clock dials, giving an inclination of approximately 1/250. Due to thermal effects it oscillates annually by a few millimetres east and west. Clock Dials The clock dials are big enough that the Clock Tower was once the largest four-faced clock in the world. The clock and dials were designed by Augustus Pugin. The clock dials are set in an iron frame 7 metres (23 ft) in diameter, supporting 312 pieces of opal glass, rather like a stained-glass window. Some of the glass pieces may be removed for inspection of the hands. The surround of the dials is gilded.

At the base of each clock dial in gilt letters is the Latin inscription: Which means O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the First. Movement The clock's movement is famous for its reliability. The designers were the lawyer and amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison, and George Airy, the Astronomer Royal. Construction was entrusted to clockmaker Edward John Dent; after his death in 1853 his stepson Frederick Dent completed the work, in 1854. As the Tower was not complete until 1859, Denison had time to experiment: Instead of using the deadbeat escapement and remontoire as originally designed, Denison invented the double three-legged gravity escapement. This escapement provides the best separation between pendulum and clock mechanism. The pendulum is installed within an enclosed windproof box sunk beneath the clockroom. It is 3.9m long, weighs 300 kg and beats every 2 seconds. The clockwork mechanism in a room below weighs 5 tons. On top of the pendulum is a small stack of old penny coins; these are to adjust the time of the clock.

Adding a coin has the effect of minutely lifting the position of the pendulum's centre of mass, reducing the effective length of the pendulum rod and hence increasing the rate at which the pendulum swings. Adding or removing a penny will change the clock's speed by 0.4 seconds per day. On 10 May 1941, a German bombing raid damaged two of the clock's dials and sections of the tower's stepped roof and destroyed the House of Commons chamber. Architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed a new five-floor block. Two floors are occupied by the current chamber which was used for the first time on 26 October 1950. Despite the heavy bombing the clock ran accurately and chimed throughout the Blitz. Malfunctions, breakdowns, and other outages 1916: for two years during World War I, the bells were silenced and the clock face darkened at night to prevent attack by German Zeppelins. 1 Sept. 1939: although the bells continued to ring, the clock faces were darkened at night through World War II to prevent guiding Blitz pilots.

New Year's Eve 1962: The clock slowed due to heavy snow and ice on the long hands, causing the pendulum to detach from the clockwork, as it is designed to do in such circumstances, to avoid serious damage elsewhere in the mechanism—the pendulum continuing to swing freely. Thus it chimed in the new year 10 minutes late. 5 August 1976: First and only major breakdown. The air brake speed regulator of the chiming mechanism broke after more than 100 years of torsional fatigue causing the fully-wound 4 ton weight to spin the winding drum out of the movement, causing a large amount of damage. The Great Clock was shut down for a total of 26 days over nine months – it was reactivated on 9 May 1977; this was its longest break in operation since it was built. During this time BBC Radio 4 had to make do with the pips. Although there were minor stoppages from 1977 to 2002 when the maintenance of the clock was carried out by the old firm of clockmakers Thwaites & Reed, these were often repaired within the permitted two hour downtime and not recorded as stoppages.

Prior to 1970 the maintenance was carried out by the original firm of Dents and since 2002 by Parliamentary staff. 27 May 2005: the clock stopped at 10:07 pm local time, possibly due to hot weather; temperatures in London had reached an unseasonable 31.8 °C (90 °F). It restarted, but stopped again at 10:20 pm local time and remained still for about 90 minutes before restarting. 29 October 2005: the mechanism was stopped for about 33 hours so the clock and its chimes could be worked on. It was the lengthiest maintenance shutdown in 22 years. 7:00 am 5 June 2006: The clock tower's "Quarter Bells" were taken out of commission for four weeks as a bearing holding one of the quarter bells was damaged from years of wear and needed to be removed for repairs. During this period, BBC Radio 4 broadcast recordings of British bird song followed by the pips in place of the usual chimes. 11 August 2007: Start of 6-week stoppage for maintenance.

Bearings in the clock's going train and the "great bell" striker were replaced, for the first time since installation. During the maintenance works, the clock was not driven by the original mechanism, but by an electric motor. Once again, BBC Radio 4 had to make do with the pips during this time. Bells Great Bell The main bell, officially known as the Great Bell, is the largest bell in the tower and part of the Great Clock of Westminster. The bell is better known by the nickname Big Ben. The original bell was a 16.3-tonne (16 ton) hour bell, cast on 6 August 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees by John Warner & Sons. The bell was named in honour of Sir Benjamin Hall, and his name is inscribed on it. However, another theory for the origin of the name is that the bell may have been named after a contemporary heavyweight boxer Benjamin Caunt. It is thought that the bell was originally to be called Victoria or Royal Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria, but that an MP suggested the nickname during a Parliamentary debate; the comment is not recorded in Hansard. Since the tower was not yet finished, the bell was mounted in New Palace Yard.

Cast in 1856, the first bell was transported to the tower on a trolley drawn by sixteen horses, with crowds cheering its progress. Unfortunately, it cracked beyond repair while being tested and a replacement had to be made. The bell was recast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as a 13.76-tonne (13½ ton) bell. This was pulled 200 ft (61 m) up to the Clock Tower’s belfry, a feat that took 18 hours. It is 2.2 metres tall and 2.9 metres wide. This new bell first chimed in July 1859. In September it too cracked under the hammer, a mere two months after it officially went into service. According to the foundry's manager, George Mears, Denison had used a hammer more than twice the maximum weight specified. For three years Big Ben was taken out of commission and the hours were struck on the lowest of the quarter bells until it was reinstalled. To make the repair, a square piece of metal was chipped out from the rim around the crack, and the bell given an eighth of a turn so the new hammer struck in a different place.

Big Ben has chimed with an odd twang ever since and is still in use today complete with the crack. At the time of its casting, Big Ben was the largest bell in the British Isles until "Great Paul", a 17 tonne (16¾ ton) bell currently hung in St Paul's Cathedral, was cast in 1881. Chimes Along with the Great Bell, the belfry houses four quarter bells which play the Westminster Quarters on the quarter hours. The four quarter bells are G♯, F♯, E, and B. They were cast by John Warner & Sons at their Crescent Foundry in 1857 (G♯, F♯ and B) and 1858 (E). The Foundry was in Jewin Crescent, in what is now known as The Barbican, in the City of London. The Quarter Bells play a 20-chime sequence, 1–4 at quarter past, 5–12 at half past, 13–20 and 1–4 at quarter to, and 5–20 on the hour (which sounds 25 seconds before the main bell tolls the hour).

Because the low bell (B) is struck twice in quick succession, there is not enough time to pull a hammer back, and it is supplied with two wrench hammers on opposite sides of the bell. The tune is that of the Cambridge Chimes, first used for the chimes of Great St Mary's church, Cambridge, and supposedly a variation, attributed to William Crotch, on a phrase from Handel's Messiah. The notional words of the chime, again derived from Great St Mary's and in turn an allusion to Psalm 37:23–24, are: "All through this hour/Lord be my guide/And by Thy power/No foot shall slide". They are written on a plaque on the wall of the clock room. Nickname The origin of the nickname Big Ben is the subject of some debate. The nickname was applied first to the Great Bell; it may have been named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw the installation of the Great Bell, or after boxing's English Heavyweight Champion Benjamin Caunt. Now Big Ben is often used, by extension, to refer to the clock, the tower and the bell collectively, although the nickname is not universally accepted as referring to the clock and tower.

Some authors of works about the tower, clock and bell sidestep the issue by using the words Big Ben first in the title, then going on to clarify that the subject of the book is the clock and tower as well as the bell. Significance in popular culture The clock has become a symbol of the United Kingdom and London, particularly in the visual media. When a television or film-maker wishes to indicate a generic location in Britain, a popular way to do so is to show an image of the Clock Tower, often with a red double-decker bus or black cab in the foreground. The sound of the clock chiming has also been used this way in audio media, but as the Westminster Quarters are heard from other clocks and other devices, the unique nature of this sound has been considerably diluted. The Clock Tower is a focus of New Year celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and TV stations tuning to its chimes to welcome the start of the year. Similarly, on Remembrance Day, the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and the start of two minutes' silence.

ITN's News at Ten opening sequence features an image of the Clock Tower with the sound of Big Ben's chimes punctuating the announcement of the news headlines, and has done so on and off for the last 41 years. The Big Ben chimes (known within ITN as "The Bongs") continue to be used during the headlines and all ITV News bulletins use a graphic based on the Westminster clock dial. Big Ben can also be heard striking the hour before some news bulletins on BBC Radio 4 (6 pm and midnight, plus 10 pm on Sundays) and the BBC World Service, a practice that began on 31 December 1923. The sound of the chimes are sent in real time from a microphone permanently installed in the tower and connected by line to Broadcasting House. Londoners who live an appropriate distance from the Clock Tower and Big Ben can, by means of listening to the chimes both live and on the radio or television, hear the bell strike thirteen times on New Year's Eve. This is possible due to what amounts to an offset between live and electronically transmitted chimes since the speed of sound is a lot slower than the speed of radio waves.

Guests are invited to count the chimes aloud as the radio is gradually turned down. The Clock Tower has appeared in many films, most notably in the 1978 version of The Thirty Nine Steps, in which the hero Richard Hannay attempted to halt the clock's progress (to prevent a linked bomb detonating) by hanging from the minute hand of its western dial. In the fourth James Bond film Thunderball a mistaken extra strike of Big Ben on the hour is designated by criminal organisation SPECTRE to be the signal that the British Government has acceded to its nuclear extortion demands. The gag phrase "Big Ben! Parliament!" is repeated for comic effect by Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's European Vacation as the depicted family remains stuck on the Lambeth Bridge Roundabout. It was also used in the filming of Shanghai Knights starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, and was depicted as being partially destroyed in the Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London". An animated version of the clock and its inner workings were also used as the setting for the climactic final battle between Basil of Baker Street and his nemesis Ratigan in the Walt Disney animated film The Great Mouse Detective as well as Peter Pan where Peter lands on the clock before they head to Neverland.

It is shown being destroyed by a UFO in the film Mars Attacks!, by a prehistoric creature in Gorgo, and by a lightning bolt in the film The Avengers. It is destroyed on purpose and quite graphically in the movie V for Vendetta and is flooded in the film Flood. In Reign of Fire, it is destroyed by dragons. The apparent "thirteen chimes" detailed above was also a major plot device in the Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode, "Big Ben Strikes Again". During the 2010 General Election the results of the national exit poll were projected onto the face of Big Ben. Accolades A survey of 2,000 people found that the tower was the most popular landmark in the United Kingdom. Big Ben was polled as the Most Iconic London Film Location. Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster | London Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster 9,649pages on Share The Victoria Clock Tower, often referred to as Big Ben (the nickname of the Great Bell housed within the Clock Tower) The Victoria Clock Tower is the world's largest four-faced chiming clock.

The structure is situated at the north-eastern end of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster , London . It is often colloquially referred to as Big Ben, which is actually the nickname of the main bell housed within the tower (formally known as the Great Bell). The Victoria Clock Tower has also been referred to as The Tower of Big Ben and, incorrectly, St Stephen's Tower , which is actually the spired tower towards the middle of the Palace and is also the main point of entry for attendees of debates and committees. Contents The Palace of Westminster and the Clock Tower on the north-eastern end, from Westminster Bridge The tower was raised as a part of Charles Barry's design for a new palace, after the old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire on the night of 22 October 1834. However, although Barry was the chief architect of the palace, he turned to Augustus Pugin for the design of the clock tower, which resembles earlier Pugin designs, including one for Scarisbrick Hall.

The design for the Clock Tower was Pugin's last design before his final descent into madness and death, and Pugin himself wrote, at the time of Barry's last visit to him to collect the drawings: "I never worked so hard in my life for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all the designs for finishing his bell tower & it is beautiful." The tower is designed in Pugin's celebrated Gothic Revival style, and is 96.3m high. The first 61m of the structure is the Clock Tower, consisting of brickwork with stone cladding; the remainder of the tower's height is a framed spire of cast iron. The tower is founded on a 15m square raft, made of 3m thick concrete, at a depth of 4m below ground level. The four clock faces are 55m above ground. The interior volume of the tower is 4,650 cubic metres (164,200 cubic feet). . Edit The clock faces are large enough to have once allowed the Clock Tower to be the largest four-faced clock in the world, but have since been outdone by the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The builders of the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower did not add chimes to the clock, so the Great Clock of Westminster still holds the title of the "world's largest four-faced chiming clock". The clock mechanism itself was completed by 1854, but the tower was not fully constructed until four years later, in 1858. The face of the Great Clock of Westminster. The hour hand is 2.7 metres (9 ft) long and the minute hand is 4.3 metres (14 ft) long. The clock and dials were designed by Augustus Pugin. The clock faces are set in an iron frame 7m in diameter, supporting 312 pieces of opal glass, rather like a stained-glass window. Some of the glass pieces may be removed for inspection of the hands. The surround of the dials is heavily gilded. At the base of each clock face in gilt letters is the Latin inscription DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM, which means O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the First. The clock became operational on 7 September 1859.

Mechanism Edit The Clock Tower at dusk, with The London Eye in the background The clock is famous for its reliability.. This is due to the skill of its designer, the lawyer and amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison, later Lord Grimthorpe. As the clock mechanism, created to Denison's specification by clockmaker Edward John Dent, was completed before the tower itself was finished, Denison had time to experiment. Instead of using the deadbeat escapement and remontoire as originally designed, Denison invented the double three-legged gravity escapement. This escapement provides the best separation between pendulum and clock mechanism. Together with an enclosed, wind-proof box sunk beneath the clockroom, the Great Clock's pendulum is well isolated from external factors like snow, ice and pigeons on the clock hands, and keeps remarkably accurate time. The idiom of putting a penny on, with the meaning of slowing down, sprang from the method of fine-tuning the clock's pendulum. The pendulum carries a small stack of old penny coins; adding or subtracting coins has the effect of minutely altering the position of the bob's centre of mass, the effective length of the pendulum rod and hence the rate at which the pendulum swings.

Adding or removing a penny will change the clock's speed by 2/5th of one second per day. Despite heavy bombing the clock ran accurately throughout the Blitz. It slowed down on New Year's Eve 1962 due to heavy snow, causing it to chime in the new year 10 minutes late. The clock had its first and only major breakdown in 1986. The chiming mechanism broke due to metal fatigue on 5 August 1986, and was reactivated again on 9 May 1987. During this time BBC Radio 4 had to make do with the pips. It stopped on 30 April 1997, the day before the general election, and again three weeks later. On Friday, 27 May 2005 the clock stopped ticking at 10:07 pm local time, possibly due to hot weather (temperatures in London had reached an unseasonal 31.8 °C (90 °F). It resumed keeping time, but stalled again at 10:20 pm local time and remained still for about 90 minutes before starting up again.

On 29 October 2005, the mechanism was stopped for approximately 33 hours so that the clock and its chimes could be worked on. It was the lengthiest maintenance shutdown in 22 years. The south clock face being cleaned on 11 August 2007 The clock tower's "Quarter Bells" were taken out of commission for four weeks starting at 7:00 am local time on 5 June 2006, as a bearing holding one of the quarter bells was damaged from years of wear and needed to be removed for repairs. During this period, BBC Radio 4 broadcast recordings of British bird song followed by the pips in place of the usual chimes. On 11 August 2007, Big Ben went silent and the clock temporarily also stopped keeping time for maintenance that lasted one month. The bearings that help sound the chime on each hour were replaced, for the first time since installation. During the maintenance works, the clock was not driven by the original mechanism, but by an electric motor. Once again, BBC Radio 4 had to make do with the pips during this time.

Great Bell Edit The main bell, officially known as the Great Bell, is the largest bell in the tower and part of the Great Clock of Westminster. The bell is better known by the nickname Big Ben, which is often mistakenly applied to the Clock Tower. The original bell was a 14.5-tonne (16 ton) hour bell, cast on 6 August 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees by John Warner & Sons. The bell was never officially named, but the legend on it records that the commissioner of works, Sir Benjamin Hall was responsible for the order. Another theory for the origin of the name is that the bell may have been named after a contemporary heavyweight boxer Benjamin Caunt. It is thought that the bell was originally to be called Victoria or Royal Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria, but that an MP suggested the nickname during a Parliamentary debate; the comment is not recorded in Hansard. Since the tower was not yet finished, the bell was mounted in New Palace Yard.

The bell cracked under the striking hammer, and its metal was recast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as the 13.76-tonne (13.54 ton (long), 15.17 ton (short)) bell, which stands at a height of 2.2 metres with a diameter of 2.9 metres, and it is still in use today. The new bell chimes the A, and was cast on 10 April 1858 and mounted in the tower alongside four quarter-hour bells, the ring of bells that ring the familiar changes. The bell was first heard across London on 31 May 1859. This bell also cracked, just two months after coming into use. For three years, Big Ben was taken out of commission and the hours were struck on the lowest of the quarter bells until it was simply fitted with a smaller hammer and rotated so the hammer would not strike the crack. Holes were also drilled on each side of the crack to prevent it from spreading, resulting in a distinctive, slightly off-key tone.

At the time of its casting, Big Ben was the largest bell in the British Isles until "Great Paul", a 16 ton bell currently hung in St. Paul's Cathedral , was cast in 1881. Other Bells Edit Along with the main bell, the belfry houses four quarter bells which play the Westminster Quarters on the quarter hours. The four quarter bells are G sharp, F sharp, E, and B. They play a 20-chime sequence, 1–4 at quarter past, 5–12 at half past, 13–20 and 1–4 at quarter to, and 5–20 on the hour. Because the low bell (B) is struck twice in quick succession, there is not enough time to pull a hammer back, and it is supplied with two wrench hammers on opposite sides of the bell. The tune is that of the Cambridge Chimes, first used for the chimes of Great St Mary's church, Cambridge, and supposedly a variation, attributed to William Crotch, on a phrase from Handel's Messiah.

The notional words of the chime, again derived from Great St Mary's and in turn an allusion to Psalm 37, are: "All through this hour/Lord be my guide/And by Thy power/No foot shall slide". They are written on a plaque on the wall of the clock room. Similar turret clocks Turret clocks around the world are inspired by the look of the Great Clock. Britain Edit A six-metre (20 ft) metal replica of the Clock Tower, known as Little Ben and complete with a working clock, stands on a traffic island close to Victoria Station . There are two similar clock towers in Birmingham. The taller is the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower ("Old Joe"), located at the University of Birmingham. At 100 metres (328 ft) it is the tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. The University clock is a replica, however, of the Torre del Mangia in Italy rather than the Big Ben Clock Tower. Another tower, Big Brum, is located in Chamberlain Square in Birmingham City Centre. Baby Big Ben is the Welsh version of the Clock Tower at the pierhead in Cardiff. Its mechanism is almost identical to the one which powers the Big Ben clock in London.

Other countries Edit There are other replicas, one of the finest of which is a two-third exact replica of the movement made by Dent located in the Queen's Royal College, Trinidad. There is another in Zimbabwe. The clock tower of the Gare de Lyon in Paris and the Peace Tower of the Canadian Parliament Buildings in Ottawa draw inspiration from the clock tower. The 47m tower of the City Hall in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, contains a quarter-chime Westminster tower clock and carillon manufactured by Gillett & Johnston of Croydon. Its four faces are each three metres in diameter. Significance in popular culture Edit The clock has become a symbol of the United Kingdom and London , particularly in the visual media. When a television or film-maker wishes to quickly convey to a non-UK audience a generic location in Britain, a popular way to do so is to show an image of the Clock Tower, often with a Routemaster bus or Hackney carriage in the foreground. This gambit is less often used in the United Kingdom itself, as it would suggest to most British people a specific location in London, which may not be the intention. Big Ben is often polled as the Most Iconic London Film Location.

The sound of the clock chiming has also been used this way in audio media, but as the Westminster Quarters are heard from other clocks and other devices, the unique nature of this particular sound has been considerably diluted. The Clock Tower is a focus of New Year celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and TV stations tuning to its chimes to welcome the start of the year. Similarly, on Remembrance Day, the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and the start of two minutes' silence. ITN's "News at Ten" opening sequence features an image of the Clock Tower with the sound of Big Ben's chimes punctuating the announcement of the news headlines, and has done so on and off for the last 41 years. The Big Ben chimes continue to be used during the headlines and all ITV News bulletins use a graphic based on the Westminster clock face. Big Ben can also be heard striking the hour before some news bulletins on BBC Radio 4 (6 pm and midnight, plus 10 pm on Sundays) and the BBC World Service, a practice that began on 31 December 1923.

The sound of the chimes are sent in real time from a microphone permanently installed in the tower and connected by line to Broadcasting House. Londoners who live an appropriate distance from the Clock Tower and Big Ben can, by means of listening to the chimes both live and on the radio or television, hear the bell strike thirteen times on New Year's Eve. This is possible due to what amounts to a one-strike offset between live and electronically transmitted chimes by virtue of a combination of digital coding and decoding and satellite transit delay. Guests are invited to count the chimes aloud as the radio is gradually turned down. Big Ben was also used in the filming of Shanghai Knights starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, and was partially destroyed in the Doctor Who episode Aliens of London. An animated version of the clock and it's inner workings were also used as the setting for the climactic final battle between Basil of Baker Street and his nemesis Ratigan in the Walt Disney animated film The Great Mouse Detective which may be a parody of "Sherlock Holmes" Awards Edit It was announced on 9 April, 2008 that a survey of 2,000 people found that the tower was the most popular landmark in the United Kingdom.

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the home of both houses of British Parliament and has been since 1512, although most of the present building is new since a fire in 1834. The Palace is on the North side of the Thames river in Westminster, on the Western edge of Central London. Big Ben, the clock tower at the Palace's North end, is probably London's best-recognised landmark. The name Big Ben actually refers to the bell inside the clock tower, but is commonly used to represent the clock and clock tower as well. An angle from the bottom of Big Ben. Victoria Tower, at the South end of the palace, houses the Parliamentary archives. At the base of Victoria Tower is the Sovereign's Enrance, where the Queen enters the building for the opening of Parliament. On the West side of the palace is a small section of the original Palace of Westminster which survived the fire, Westminster Hall, which was erected in 1097. A shot of the entire palace, from Westminster Bridge. A semi-aerial view from the London Eye. Just behind the palace can be seen Westminster Abbey.

St James’s Hotel and Club | Twenty Minutes Walking From Westminster Westminster - Twenty Minutes Walking From The Hotel HISTORIC BUILDINGS The Palace of Westminster: also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, it is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom - the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The name may refer to either of two structures: the Old Palace, a medieval building complex, most of which burned in 1834, and its replacement New Palace that stands today. For ceremonial purposes, the palace retains its original style and status as a royal residence. Westminster Abbey: It is a large, mainly Gothic church, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster.It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English, later British and later still (and currently) monarchs of the Commonwealth realms. The abbey is a Royal Peculiar (a place of worship that falls directly under the jurisdiction of the British monarch) and briefly held the status of a cathedral from 1540 to 1550. Westminster Cathedral: is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster.

It is dedicated to the "Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ". The site on which the Cathedral stands originally belonged to the Benedictine monks who established the nearby Westminster Abbey and was purchased by the Archdiocese of Westminster in 1885. Westminster Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The Big Ben : Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster, and is generally extended to refer to the clock and the clock tower as well. The clock tower holds the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world and is the third-tallest free-standing clock tower.The tower was completed in 1858 and has become one of the most prominent symbols of both London and England, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city. London Eye: The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames. The entire structure is 135 metres (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft).It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually.

When erected in 1999, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world. The London Eye is also known as the Millennium Wheel. Big Ben (Clock) | Marvel Database | Fandom powered by Wikia [ show ] History Big Ben is the nickname for the "Great Bell" of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London , England , The name and often extended to refer to the clock and the clock tower. The tower is officially known as Elizabeth Tower. During World War II , the Clock Tower of Big Ben was frequently used as a secret Allied meeting place. In 1942, the Allied Command decided that they should coordinate their efforts with the costumed battalion known as the Invaders . The Americans sent an officer named Colonel Farrow, while England provided the services of Major Rawlings. The first secret meeting inside of the clock tower involved a mission to capture three master saboteurs, the Hyena, the Shark and Agent Axis. [1] In the shadow of Big Ben, Goliath ran into the Black Knight before tacking on the Whizzer ; Goliath told him to not get involved, however the Black Knight interfered.

This causes the Grandmaster to abruptly end the first phase of the contest against Kang , and whisked the combatants away for the second part, leaving the Black Knight behind to vows to help the Avengers [2] . In recent times, Big Ben became one of several London sites targeted by terrorists working for an A.I.M. subsidiary known as Radically Advanced Ideas in Destruction (RAID). MI-6 put together a team of independent operatives to combat RAID's efforts. The team consisted of Union Jack, Sabra, Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine and the new Arabian Knight. [3]

Question: What was the name most often used for the tower at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London?
Answer: St Stephen's Tower