Big Ben to fall silent until 2021 for maintenance
BRITAIN: It has chimed the note of E on the hour, every hour, for more than 150 years, but next Monday at noon Big Ben will fall silent for four years.
The famous bell, which weighs 13.7 tonnes, will hang still as maintenance work is carried out on the Great Clock that sits inside the Elizabeth Tower on the parliament estate.
The clock and bell were a custom-made Victorian mechanism that relies on gravity to trigger the familiar chimes.
The bongs of the bell last ceased for works in 2007, and before that for two years from 1983. Other- wise, its record of service has been almost unbroken since 1860.
To stop the bells, the striking hammers will be locked and the bell disconnected from the clock mechanism, allowing the Great Clock to continue telling the time silently.
Parliament’s specialist clockmakers, led by Steve Jaggs, who boasts the title ‘‘keeper of the great clock’’, plan to enable the bell to sound for New Year’s Eve, Remembrance Sunday and other significant events.
Jaggs said: ‘‘Big Ben falling silent is a significant milestone in this crucial conservation project . . . Members of the public are welcome to mark this important moment by gathering in Parliament Square to hear Big Ben’s final bongs.’’
The clock tower, which was named the Elizabeth Tower to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, was designed by Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Pugin.
The building, which stands 96 metres tall, forms part of the Palace of Westminster, which is a Grade I listed building and part of a Unesco world heritage site.
Scaffolding was mounted on the tower this year as the mainten- ance works got under way. The Ayrton Light, which shines to indicate that parliament is sitting, will be renovated.
The Great Clock will be entirely dismantled, with each cog examined and restored. The four dials will be carefully cleaned, the glass repaired, the cast iron framework renewed, and the hands will be removed and refurbished.
A modern electric motor will be on standby to keep the clock going and one of its four faces will remain visible at all times during the works to allow members of the public to continue setting their watches by it. – The Times