London-Westminster Abbey & Big Ben

UNESCO refers to Westminster Abbey as a ‘national Valhalla’ for burials and memorials of figures of national significance, Westminster Abbey holds Britain’s most important collection of tombs and funerary monuments.

It has been the The Coronation Church since 1066 where forty monarchs have been crowned since 1066 and for numerous other royal occasions, including sixteen royal weddings. An architectural masterpiece of the 13th to 16th centuries, Westminster Abbey also presents a unique pageant of British history – the shrine of St Edward the Confessor, the tombs of kings and queens, and countless memorials to the famous and the great.

Today it is still a church dedicated to regular worship and to the celebration of great events in the life of the nation. It is called a "Royal Peculiar" under the jurisdiction of a Dean and Chapter, subject only to the Sovereign and not to any archbishop or bishop. Westminster Abbey is a place of daily worship as well as a burial place of kings, statesmen, poets, scientists, warriors and musicians.

Abbey bells
The Abbey built by Edward the Confessor was dedicated in 1065 and had a central tower and two western towers and was furnished with bells. The first recorded information concerning Abbey bells, however, is found in the Close Rolls of King Henry III, where an instruction in 1250 to Edward of Westminster required that he make a bigger bell than any of those he had made previously and 1255 five bells were in use.

A bell cast for the Abbey c.1310 by Richard de Wimbis had the inscription "Christe Audi Nos" and still exists on display. By the late fifteenth century a ring of six bells was installed and remained at six until the twentieth century. In 1919 King George V and Queen Mary two bells were newly cast to form a ring of eight. The eight bells continued in use ringing out in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI and in 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and on 8th May 1945 for VE Day. In 1971 all 10 bells were replaced and the two oldest bells, which dated from the sixteenth century and the reign of Queen Elizabeth I were retained.

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Big Ben is the world's most famous clock. Six monarchs and 41 prime ministers have come and gone since the bells first struck their now familiar music across Westminster.

The Elizabeth Tower is 11 floors, 315’, 292 steps to the clock faces and 334 steps to the Belfry where the Great Bell hangs. Climb another 65 steps and you reach the Ayrton Light, the lantern thatshines when the Houses of Parliament are sitting.

The Great Clock has 4 clock dials, each dial is made of 324 pot opal glass pieces in a cast iron frame. The hour figures are 2’ in length. The dials are 23’ in diameter.  The minute hands are made of copper sheet each weighs 220 lbs and are 14’ long. They travel the equivalent of 118 miles a year. Hour hands are made of gun metal and three times heavier at 661 lbs and are 9’ in length. The mechanism keeps the Great Clock ticking and Big Ben striking.   Each pendulum ‘beat’ lasts for 2 seconds.  Outside pressure like the wind on the clock hands can affect the clock's accuracy. The 'Double Three-legged Gravity Escapement' compensates for the effects of outside pressure on the mechanism and is crucial in helping the clock keep accurate time.

The mechanism: weighs 5 tons is made of cast iron is 15’ long and 5’ wide. The pendulum: is 14’ long weighs 683 lbs and the bob weighs 448 lbs and is made of concentric tubes of steel and zinc (a bob is a weight hanging from a cable that swings from side to side).

Big Ben is not the only bell in the clocktower. The bells are fixed and struck by hammers from outside, rather than swinging and being struck from inside by clappers.   There are four other bells in the Belfry. Their notes all combine to form the famous tune. Big Ben weighs 13.7 tons, the hammer is 441 lbs. The first quarter bell weighs 1.1 tons, the second quarter bell weighs 1.3 tons, the third quarter bell weighs 1.7 tons and the fourth quarter bell weighs 4 tons.

For 6 weeks in 2007 it had the longest stoppage since 1990, and 6 months in 1956, 2 months in 1934, and 2 days in 2005 so that the brake shaft could be inspected.Læs mere