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Big
Ben Facts:
Did you know: Big
Ben is the bell, not the clock or the tower.
"Big Ben" is the most commonly used name for the Clock Tower, which
is itself also known as St Stephen's Tower. That name may have come from St Stephen's
Hall, the western wing of the Palace of Westminster, which is the entrance used
by visitors wishing to view the proceedings of the Houses of Parliament, and
British subjects wishing to lobby their MP.
Related Information:
Big Ben web cam links [Cam
1][Cam
2]
The story of Big Ben  more..
The following is a summary of the main facts about the clock,
tower and bells:
The Clocktower
- The total height of the tower is 316
feet
- The height of the belfry is about 200
feet
- There are 290 steps to the clockroom
and 340 to the belfry
The Bells
- The quarter chiming bells are in the
key of F
- The hour bell (Big Ben) is note E and
weighs 13.5 tons and has a maximum diameter of 9 feet
- The hammer of the hour bell weighs 4
cwt.
- The four quarter bells weigh (in order
of size) 1 ton, 1.25 tons, 1.6 tons and 3.5 tons
The Dials and Hands
- The diameter of each of the four dials
is 23 feet
- Each dial contains 312 panes of glass
(and we are happy to dispel the myth that there are 365,
one for each day of the year, yes, we've counted them!)
- 28 bulbs are used to light each dial
from behind
- The hour hands are 9 feet long and weigh
0.8 cwt.
- The minute hands are 14 feet long and
weigh 2.5 cwt.
- The Roman numerals are 2 feet high
The Clock Mechanism
- Three train flatbed mechanism with Grimthorpe's
double three-legged gravity escapement and two-second
pendulum
- The frame of the mechanism is about
16 feet long and the entire machine weighs 5 tons
- The driving weights weigh 2 cwt. (going),
1 ton (striking) and 1.25 tons (chiming)
- The chiming and striking trains have
been wound by motor since 1912 but the previous hand
winding took two men 5 hours per train
- The going train is still wound by hand
which takes less than 30 minutes
- The overall length of the pendulum is
about 14 feet and it weighs 2.5 cwt.
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