7/26/2023 0 Comments Bigben clock tower![]() ![]() Though Big Ben ranks as one of England’s most popular tourist attractions, overseas visitors are not allowed to venture inside the tower. Only residents of the United Kingdom are allowed inside the tower. Working from Beckett Denison’s design, Dent built the double three-legged gravity escapement that would become the standard for clock tower design thereafter. The project passed to Dent’s stepson, Frederick Rippon Dent. The clockmaker invented a whole new mechanical system for Big Ben.Īiry hired clockmaker Edward John Dent to bring Beckett Denison’s design into reality in 1852, but Dent passed away just one year later before he could finish the job. Royal Astronomer Sir George Biddell Airy came up with the specifications that the clock had to have, and lawyer, politician, and railway promoter Sir Edmund Beckett Denison designed the movement. While you might guess that the English government would have charged top clockmakers with the task of creating such a prominent timekeeper, the pair who actually designed the clock were not trained horologists. A lawyer and an astronomer designed the clock movement. The other dominant explanation is that the bell took its name from Benjamin Caunt, a champion heavyweight bare-knuckle boxer of the 19th century. As the story goes, Hall gave a longwinded speech on the topic of what the bell should be named, leading a colleague to quip, “Why not call him Big Ben and have done with it?” Hall’s name is inscribed on the bell, which would seem to support this theory. The prime candidate for the handle’s inspiration is Sir Benjamin Hall, a 19th century engineer and politician who was also a famously large man. The original “Ben” who lent his name to the bell is a bit of mystery. The bell took its name from one of two famous Bens. Additionally, the clock itself is named the Great Clock of Westminster. In 2012, the structure took on a new name- Elizabeth Tower-as part of the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s 60-year reign. For the bulk of its life, the landmark was known simply as the Clock Tower, but it was commonly referenced (especially by the Victorian press) as St. ![]() Big Ben's clock tower has gone by several names.Įven though it has assumed the Big Ben moniker, the tower has its own official name. The E-natural behemoth leads a team of four quarter bells, which chime B-natural, E-natural, F-sharp, and G-sharp tones. Also known as the Great Bell, Big Ben stands more than 7 feet tall, measures 9 feet in diameter, and weighs nearly 14 tons. The name "Big Ben" refers to the clock tower's largest bell, not the Clock or the tower itself.Īt some point, London’s superstar clock tower acquired the nickname Big Ben-a name originally given not to the tower itself or even its clock, but to the largest of the clock’s five bells. You may have snapped a photo of England’s most iconic clock or seen it in footage of London, but how well do you really know the United Kingdom’s towering timepiece-which rang out for the first time on May 31, 1859. ![]()
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