After the great fire which destroyed the old Parliament buildings in 1834, Charles Barry designed a new complex, including an elegant tower in which a Great Clock would be housed.
The Great Clock was to be accurate - the revolutionary design by MP Edmund Denison, an amateur clockmaker with ingenious new ideas saw to that. And it was to be very audible. The great bell which was to work with the clock would see to that.
Or would it? The first bell was made in the North East, by Warners at their works near Stockton-on-Tees : it was cast on August 6 1856, but cracked beyond repair on testing in October the following year.
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry won the contract for the replacement: almost 14 tonnes in weight, 2.2m high, 2.7m at its broadest, striking a deep E note when hit by the 200kg hammer in the mechanism, which was first used in situ on July 11 1859.
And even this bell went wrong, cracking after a few years, though it was repaired.
Why is it called Big Ben? Either after the engineer whose name appears on it - Benjamin Hall; or renowned heavyweight boxer Ben Caunt - truth is, nobody knows.
More British Institutions
Afternoon Tea
Allotments
April Fools Day
Big Ben
Binge Drinking
Black Cabs
Bonfire Night
British Sense of Humour
Brown Windsor Soup
Burns Night
Cadburys
Castles
Changing the Guard
City of London
Coronation Street
Cowes Week
Cricket
Crufts
Dad’s Army
E-Type Jag
Eccentricity
English Country Garden
Fish and Chips
Fish Fingers
Fox Hunting
Full English Breakfast
Gin and Tonic
Glastonbury
Glorious Goodwood
Grand National
Grouse Shooting
Harrods
Highland Games
Hogmanay
James Bond
John Bull
King Arthur
Land Rover
Lloyds of London
London to Brighton Veteran Car Rally
Marks and Spencer
Monty Python
Morecambe and Wise
Old School Tie
Oxbridge
Panto
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Pimms
Point-to-Point
Punch and Judy
Queueing
Real Ale
Red Arrows
Red Telephone Boxes
Remembrance Poppies
Robin Hood
Rolls Royce
Royal Ascot
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Savile Row Suits
School Discos
School Sports Day
Seaside Piers
Speakers’ Corner
Stag Nights
Stiff Upper Lip
Strawberries and Cream
Street Markets
Summer Festivals
Sunday Roasts
The Archers
The BBC
The Beano
The Boat Race
The Brass Band
The British Bobby
The Bulldog
The Church of England
The Cup Final
The Curry House
The English Rose
The Garden Shed
The Honours System
The Kilt
The Last Night at the Proms
The London Bus
The Mini
The National Trust
The NHS
The Oak
The Pub
The Queen’s Speech
The Rolling Stones
The Royal Christmas Message
The Spitfire
The V Sign
The Village Fete
The Weather
Travelling Fairs
Trooping the Colour
Village Greens
Wedgwood
Wellington Boots
Wimbledon
Wine Gums
Yeomen of the Guard
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