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Elizabeth Tower Fact File

Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, is a clock tower in London associated with the Houses of Parliament, renamed in 2012 to honor Queen Elizabeth II. Constructed after a fire in 1834, the tower features a Gothic Revival design and houses the famous Great Bell, which first chimed in 1859. The tower is currently undergoing restoration due to structural concerns, including a slight lean to the north-west.

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Rauana Bolat
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92 views1 page

Elizabeth Tower Fact File

Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben, is a clock tower in London associated with the Houses of Parliament, renamed in 2012 to honor Queen Elizabeth II. Constructed after a fire in 1834, the tower features a Gothic Revival design and houses the famous Great Bell, which first chimed in 1859. The tower is currently undergoing restoration due to structural concerns, including a slight lean to the north-west.

Uploaded by

Rauana Bolat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tower Figures

Elizabeth Tower The Tower of London is home


toHeight
a group of ravens.96 They
metres
are
known as the ‘guardians of the
Number
Tower’. At of
least six ravens
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Elizabeth Tower is the large clock tower belonging to the Houses of Parliament in bells
kept at the Tower at all times
London, UK. It is often referred to as Big Ben but this is actually the name of the due to a historical legend - if
great bell housed inside. It was known as the Clock Tower or St Stephen’s Tower Number of
4
the ravens leave the Tower,
but was renamed in 2012 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. clock dials
the kingdom will fall. Charles
IINumber
is thought
of to have been the
11
first monarch to insist that the
floors
Construction

In 1834, a fire destroyed much of the Houses of Big Ben Quick Facts
Parliament. Architect Charles Barry designed a new
building and Augustus Pugin designed the impressive clock tower in • The first bell cracked when
a similar Gothic Revival Style. Construction began in 1843. it was tested.

• The replacement bell first


Brickwork and limestone form the tower’s base, with the remainder chimed in July 1859.
supported by a cast iron frame. In 1854 the tower’s clock was
• The bell rings on the hour
completed. Four years later, the great bell, or Big Ben, was cast in a
with the four smaller bells
local factory. The clock and bell were installed together in 1859.
chiming each quarter hour.
In 2017, a huge project began to restore the tower. Today, Elizabeth • Big Ben was silenced
Tower leans slightly to the north-west. Experts suspect this may be for a period during the
caused by the ground on which it is built drying out. First World War.

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