![]() When the quarter-chimes were out of action briefly in 2006, it played birdsong. During previous silences, the BBC – which uses live bongs to mark the daily news bulletins at 6pm and midnight and at 10pm on Sunday before Radio 4’s Westminster Hour – has played the pips instead. It has sounded on the hour for most of the past 157 years. It is one of the most prominent symbols of the United Kingdom and parliamentary democracy, and it is often used in the establishing shot of films set in London.From noon on 21 August, it will be four years until the bell’s distinct, sonorous tone will be heard again (with two exceptions: it will still be rung to mark New Year and Remembrance Sunday). The tower is a British cultural icon recognised all over the world. The clock uses its original Victorian mechanism, but an electric motor can be used as a backup. Four quarter bells chime at 15, 30 and 45 minutes past the hour and just before Big Ben tolls on the hour. It may be named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw its installation, or heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt. The origin of the bell's nickname is open to question. It was the largest bell in the United Kingdom for 23 years. On, celebrations were held to mark the tower's 150th anniversary.īig Ben is the largest of the tower's five bells and weighs 13.5 long tons. ![]() ![]() All four nations of the UK are represented on the tower in shields featuring a rose for England, thistle for Scotland, shamrock for Northern Ireland, and leek for Wales. Dials of the clock are 22.5 feet (6.9 m) in diameter. Its base is square, measuring 40 feet (12 m) on each side. ![]() The tower stands 316 feet (96 m) tall, and the climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps. When completed in 1859, its clock was the largest and most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world. The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin in a neo-Gothic style. It was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom. ![]() The name is frequently extended to refer to both the clock and the clock tower The official name of the tower in which Big Ben is located was originally the Clock Tower. Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the striking clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster. ![]()
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