![]() ![]() ![]() Construction was entrusted to clockmaker Edward John Dent after his death in 1853 his stepson, Frederick Dent completed the work, in 1854. The designers were the lawyer and amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison, and George Airy, the Astronomer Royal. The clock’s movement is famous for its reliability. The bell will continue to chime, but the hands are frozen at 12 o’clock, while four cleaners abseil down the front of the clock face. Some of the glass pieces may be removed for inspection of the hands. The clock dials are set in an iron frame 23 feet (7.0 m) in diameter, supporting 312 pieces of opal glass, rather like a stained-glass window. Technically, “Big Ben” refers to the 13.5-ton bell that chimes every hour, and the tower is officially called “Elizabeth Tower,” but most people know London’s greatest icon, simply as “Big Ben.” Completed in 1858, the tower holds the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world and is the third-tallest free-standing clock tower.Īccording to Wikipedia, “The clock and dials were designed by Augustus Pugin. “Big Ben” is the nickname for the clock and clock tower at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London. Big Ben will be closed while the clock face and mechanics that drive it will undergo exterior and interior cleaning for a number of years. ![]()
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