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| Big
Ben |
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A
brief history of Big Ben : The clock
tower of the Palace of Westminster
(London - England) took 13 years
to build, and was completed in 1856.
The tower is 316 feet high. The
spire that rises above the belfry
is built with an iron frame, and
it is this frame which supports
the weight of the bells. A staircase
rises up inside the tower, and a
climb is rewarded by excellent views
from the belfry level. Several small
rooms are built into the lower part
of the tower, including a small
prison cell.
The
cast iron frame of the clock face
was designed by AW Pugin, who was
responsible for much of the Gothicdecorative
elements of the Palace of Westminster.
The dials are 23 feet in diameter
and the faces themselves are not
solid, but is composed of many small
pieces of opal glass, assembled
like a stained glass window. Several
of the central pieces of glass can
be removed to allow inspection of
the hands from inside the clock
tower. The numbers on the clock
faces are each two feet high. An
inscription in Latin below each
clock face translates as "God
save our Queen Victoria I".
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At
the time of its construction the clock
mechanism was easily the largest in
the world, and it is still among the
largest today. The clock mechanism,
designed by Edmund Beckett Denison,
has proven to be remarkably accurate
over the years, allowing small adjustments
to the clock's rate to be made by placing
pennies on a small shoulder of the clock's
pendulum!
The
best time to see Big Ben may be at night,
when the clock faces are illuminated,
as is the facade of the Palace of Westminster
facing the Thames. The effect from Westminster
Bridge or the far bank of the Thames can
be breathtaking.
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