BIGBEN 15

BIG BEN is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster and by extension for the clock tower itself which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England
Originally known simply as the Clock Tower, it was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II
The clock is a striking clock with five bells
The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin in a Perpendicular Gothic Revival style and was completed in 1859
It is elaborately decorated with stone carvings and features symbols related to the four nations of the United Kingdom and the Anglo-Welsh Tudor dynasty
A Latin inscription celebrates Queen Victoria, in whose reign the palace was built
The tower stands 316 feet (96 m) tall, and the climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps
Its base is square, measuring 40 feet (12 m) on each side
The dials of the clock are 22.5 feet (6.9 m) in diameter
The clock uses its original mechanism
It was the largest and most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world upon its completion
It was designed by Edmund Beckett Denison and George Airy, the Astronomer Royal, and constructed by Edward John Dent and Frederick Dent
It is known for its reliability, and can be adjusted by adding or removing pre-decimal pennies from the pendulum
The Great Bell was cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and weighs 13.5 long tons (13.7 tonnes; 15.1 short tons)
Its nickname may be derived from Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw its installation, or heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt
There are four quarter bells, which chime on the quarter hours
Big Ben is a British cultural icon
It is one of the most prominent symbols of the UK and parliamentary democracy and it is often used in the establishing shot of films set in London
The clock tower has been part of a Grade I listed building since 1970 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987
The clock and tower were renovated between 2017 and 2021 during which the bells remained silent with few exceptions
THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER
The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England
It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative chambers which occupy the building
The palace is the centre of political life in the United Kingdom
"Westminster" has become a metonym for the UK Parliament and the British Government, and the Westminster system of government commemorates the name of the palace
The clock bell in the Elizabeth Tower (commonly known as the Big Ben Tower) of the palace, nicknamed Big Ben, is a landmark of London and the United Kingdom in general
The competition to design the new palace was won by the architect Charles Barry, who chose a Gothic Revival style for the building. Construction started in 1840 and lasted for 30 years suffering delays, cost overruns, and the deaths of Barry and his assistant, Augustus Pugin
The palace contains chambers for the House of Commons, House of Lords, and the monarch and has a floor area of 112476 m2 (1210680 sq ft)
Extensive repairs had to be made after the Second World War, including rebuilding the destroyed Commons chamber
During the Second World War the palace was hit by bombs on fourteen separate occasions
As the need for office space in the palace increased, Parliament acquired office space in the nearby Norman Shaw Building in 1975 and in the custom-built Portcullis House, completed in 2000
EXTERIOR
Charles Barry's collaborative design for the Palace of Westminster uses the Perpendicular Gothic style
The Palace of Westminster has three main towers
The Victoria Tower
The largest and tallest is the 98.5-metre (323 ft) Victoria Tower, which occupies the south-western corner of the palace
At base of the tower is the Sovereign's Entrance used by the monarch whenever entering the palace to open Parliament or for other state occasions
At the top of the cast-iron pyramidal roof is a 22 m (72 ft) flagstaff
CENTRAL TOWER
The shortest of the palace's three principal towers at 91 metres (299 ft), the octagonal Central Tower stands over the middle of the building, immediately above the Central Lobby
INTERIOR
The Palace of Westminster contains over 1100 rooms, 100 staircases and 4.8 kilometres (3 mi) of passageways which are spread over four floors
LAYOUT
The Central Lobby is the octagonal space in the centre with the Commons chamber is to the north, the Elizabeth Tower beyond and the Lords chamber is to the south
WESTMINSTER HALL
Westminster Hall is a large medieval great hall and the oldest surviving palace building surmounted by its medieval hammerbeam roof
It was erected in 1097 for William II ("William Rufus"), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe
UNESCO) classifies the Palace of Westminster, along with neighbouring Westminster Abbey and St Margaret's, as a World Heritage Site