Houses of Parliament aka Palace of Westminster

The site of the Houses of Parliament is the Palace of Westminster, a royal palace and former residence of kings. The layout of the Palace is intricate, with its existing buildings containing nearly 1,200 rooms, 100 staircases and well over 3 kilometres (2 miles) of passages. Among the original historic buildings is Westminster Hall, used nowadays for major public ceremonial events. The present Houses of Parliament were designed by Sir Charles Barry and built over the 30 years following the fire of 1834, which saw the destruction of most of Westminster Palace.

The total height of the clock tower is 316 feet. The four dials of the clock are 23 feet square, the minute hand is 14 feet long and the roman numerals are 2 feet high. The clock is an excellent timekeeper, which has rarely stopped.

Big Ben

Contrary to popular belief, the name Big Ben doesn’t refer to the clock-tower but to the thirteen ton bell hung within. Big Ben is 7’ 6” high, 9’ in diameter and was rung for the first time on 31st May 1859. Big Ben is only struck on the hour, with the four quarter chime bells being rung on the quarter hour.

The story of the naming of the bell goes like this: Parliament had a special sitting to decide on a suitable name for the great hour bell. The Chief Lord of the Woods and Forests, Sir Benjamin Hall, a large and ponderous man known affectionately in the House as "Big Ben", rose and gave an impressively long speech on the subject. After Sir Benjamin sank back into his seat, a joker in the chamber shouted out: "Why not call him Big Ben and have done with it?" The house erupted in laughter; Big Ben had been named.