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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
Gothic
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decorative 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".
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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