THE STORY OF BIG BEN

This picture, painted by William T.Kimber, the head moulder responsible for casting the bell, shows George Mears with his wife and daughter inspecting the casting prior to despatch.

  The hour bell of the Great Clock of Westminster -          known worldwide as 'Big Ben' - is the most famous bell ever cast at Whitechapel. Big Ben was cast on Saturday 10th April 1858, but its story begins more than two decades earlier....

   The architect was Charles Barry. The Astronomer       Royal, George Airy supervised the clock. One of his requirements was that: "the first stroke of the hour bell should be within one second per day, and it should telegraph its performance twice a day to Greenwich Observatory, where a record would be kept."Most clockmakers of the day considered this i  mpossible. But a clock designed  by Denison was built by Messrs E.J. Dent & Co., and completed in 1854.

     When Big Ben rings its first stroke which indicates the       exact times. When the parliament is sitting, a British flag  is raised on Victoria tower and the night a light shine              above the clock.

THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT

The parliament from the big eye

      The Mother of all Parliaments' more properly called the Palace of Westminster

      On 16^th October 1834, a fire destroyed the Old Palace except the Westminster Hall that survived.

       In 1844, Parliament decided that the new buildings for the Houses of Parliament, by then under construction, should incorporate a tower and clock.

     Westminster Hall itself is a particularly fine example of a medieval hall, over 240 long, accessible to the Public only with Guided Tours. Public Access is also open to the Public Galleries. The most interesting debates are during Prime Ministers Question Time. The Gothic masterpiece that are the present Houses of Parliament, were constructed between 1840 and 1888.