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The Clock Tower is a Turret clock structure at the north-eastern end of the Houses of Parliament building in Westminster, London, England. Big Ben is one London’s best - known landmarks, and look most spectacular at night when the clock faces are illuminated. You even known when parliament is in session, because a light shines above the clock face.The tower was raised as a part of Charles Barry’s design for a new palace, after the old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire on the night of October 16, 1834. The tower is designed in the Victorian Gothic style, and is 96.3 metres high. The clock mechanism itself was completed by 1854, but the tower was not fully constructed until four years later in 1858. The clock mechanism, alone, weights about 5 tons. The figures on the clock face are about 2 ft long, the minute spaces are 1 ft. square; and the copper minute hands are14 ft. Long. In 1848, the Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airey, and barrister Edmund Dennison took charge of designing the Great Clock.
Clockmaker Edward Dent had the job of building it.
A lot of people think that the clock tower is Big Ben, however, it is not the tower but the bell in the clock that is called Big Ben. The clock tower itself is called the Great Clock of Westminster. The bell was made according to certain requirements regarding weight, shape and metal. However, it cracked and was beyond repair. Because of this, a new bell had to be made. This time the White chapel Bell Foundry undertook the castings.
The tower in which the great clock is located is known as St Stephen’s Tower. The name is thought to originate 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.
The clock is famous for its reliability, telling the time to within one seconds accuracy, but extreme weather conditions can affect the mechanism. In 1962, for example, the New Year was ten minutes late owing to heavy snow! 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.