Big Ben

Originally, the nickname Big Ben referred to the bell in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament in London. Now however, it has come to encompass the clock and its tower.

The bell was cast in 1858 at the Whitechapel Foundry and was originally 16 ½ tonnes in weight. The following year, a 4ft long crack appeared and the bell had to be recast, losing 3 tons in the process. These days it weighs a hefty 13, 700kg or 13 ½ tonnes and measures 2.7m or 9ft in diameter.

Big Ben is said to have been named after Sir Benjamin Hall (who later became Baron Llandover), the First Commissioner of Works at the time. Hall’s feat of renown was the establishment of the metropolitan board of works and the substantial renovation of London’s parks. He also championed the right of Welsh churchgoers to attend services in their own language and campaigned against the mismanagement of ecclesiastical properties.

The nickname Big Ben was also popularly applied to noted pugilist Benjamin Caunt who retired from the ring in 1857, aged 42. The famous hourly peal of the real Big Ben however ‘ the bell’ did not occur until 1859, when it rang for the very first time.