Spectacular landmark, essentially British
SISIR K. MAJUMDAR
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For the people of London the chiming of the Big Ben is at once a feeling of home.
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STANDING TALL: The Big Ben. Photo: AP
The Big Ben is the most important and spectacular landmark in London. It is housed in the Clock Tower, at the eastern end of the Houses of Parliament. The clock contains the bell, named after Sir Benjamin Hall, commissioner for works at the time of its installation in 1859. The name originally applied only to the bell, but eventually came to indicate the clock itself.
The real architects behind the making of the clock were John Dent, Edmund Beckett Grimthorpe and Frederick Rippon Dent.
Edmund Beckett Denison designed the highly accurate regulator incorporated in the clock. Around 1851, in association with Sir George Airy, (the then astronomer royal) and clockmaker Edward John Dent, Denison undertook the design of the clock for the tower of the houses of Parliament. Denison's principal contribution was a novel gravity escapement that imparted unprecedented accuracy to the clock.
Highly accurate
John Edward Dent, the maker of highly accurate clocks and chronometers, won the commission to make the great clock in 1852 on the recommendation of Sir George Airy — the astronomer royal. However, John Dent died before completing the project. His stepson, Frederick Rippon Dent, finished the clock in 1854. It was installed in 1859.
The Big Ben stands as an icon of confidence. It is the symbol of solidarity, power and sovereignty of the national parliament. Big Ben is much bigger than its physical self in the hearts and minds of the British people.
Standing face-to-face with the statue of Winston Churchill, the Big Ben looks like a living experience of his historic dictum during World War II:
In war: Resolution
In defeat: Defiance
In victory: Magnanimity
In peace: Goodwill
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