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Young World
DESIGN MARVEL
Every hour, on the hour
A. SRIVATHSAN
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The Big Ben is the most popular and the largest four-sided clock in the world
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The word `clock' may now be
freely used to name any instrument
that shows time.
But its Dutch and Latin roots associate
it with a bell. When it comes
to clocks that chime, Big Ben is the
most popular and the largest foursided
clock in the world. Not only
is the picture perfect image of the
Westminster tower with gilded
clock dial and the Thames in the
foreground popular but also is its
hourly chime. For many of us who
grew up listening to BBC World
service, the Westminster chime is
one of the most familiar sounds
Gothic in style
Describing the Big Ben as a clock
might not be entirely correct. Big
Ben is the nickname of the hour
bell of the clock and not the tower
itself. The tower was part of the
(then) new parliament building.
The old parliament was earlier
functioning at the same site - the
Westminster Palace. In 1834, a
raging fire destroyed most of the
palace structures. To many parliamentarians,
this accident was a
`fortunate calamity' because they
could get a better building.
In 1835, a competition for the
new parliament was floated. From
the many entries, the building designed
by Charles Bary and A.W.
Pugin was chosen, for its `bold
composition, visual unity and lacework
of ornamentation'. It was
clothed in Gothic architectural
style since the selection committee
considered it to be `patriotic,
local and appropriate'. Construction
began in 1840 and was ready
to use in 1870.
Pugin designed the clock tower
and the dial of the clock. The face
of the clock measures seven m in
diameter and is made up of 312
glass pieces. The frame of the dial
is gilded and carries a Latin inscription
on all its four sides. The
clock works on gravity escapement
mechanism designed by Edmund
Denison.
The Big Ben was first cast in 1857
but it soon cracked. In 1859, it was
recast and installed. The bell
weighs 13.5 tons and measures 2.2
m in height and 2.7 m in diameter.
Smaller chimes of the clock announced
every quarter of an hour,
while the Big Ben - the big bell,
announced the hour.
The entire tune was adopted
from the Cambridge chimes. It is
said that `in calm weather the
sound would be heard in a five
miles radius'. For more than a century,
the Big Ben has been ringing
every hour expect for a few occasions
when the clock stopped
working.
The Westminster palace was declared
as a world heritage site in
1987
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