How long has Big Ben been covered?

It was covered up for renovation works in 2017, with the clock face only peeking out from a grid of grey metal. Now, we can finally see what that £80 million price tag was all about. After five years, the whole top of the tower can be seen free from scaffolding and Big Ben is out of its cocoon ready to be a butterfly.



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Big Ben undergoes the biggest conservation in its history Affectionately known around the world as Big Ben and shrouded in scaffolding from 2017-2022, the Elizabeth Tower was repaired from the gilt cross and orb at its tip, to the bottom of its 334-step staircase.

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With each face nearly 7m wide, the minute hands over 4.2m long and the hour hands weighing 300kg each, it is the largest four faced chiming clock in the world. Although the clock was started on 31st May 1859, Big Ben rang for the 1st time over London a month later on 11th July.

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“At the end of the day, you could say it is just a series of concentric stone shafts with a bloody great clock on top,” said Adam Watrobski, the chief architect of the tower's restoration, which cost 80 million pounds, or about $97 million.

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The five-year restoration of the Elizabeth Tower involved extensive scaffolding, 500 workers and ended up running £51m over budget. The clock's iconic dials have been restored to their original colour - Prussian blue - after experts discovered the shade under layers of black paint.

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1716: The bell from the clock tower is recast and later hung in the South West Tower of St Paul's Cathedral. If Big Ben is ever unable to strike, the bell in St Paul's is heard instead.

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Although the clock will only be out of action for two years, the bells have to be silenced for the entire renovation period to protect the workers' hearing. The Big Ben bell weighs 13.76 tonnes and chimes at 118 decibels. At that volume, people would suffer hearing damage after just 14 seconds of exposure.

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Big Ben also stopped on April 30, 1997, and once more three weeks later. Big Ben is actually the clock's 13-ton bell, which was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, the British commissioner of works at the time the clock was built. The official name for the Gothic tower holding Big Ben is St.

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The 13-tonne Big Ben bell was largely silenced for five years while a major restoration of the Elizabeth Tower took place, with the “bongs” finally resuming regular service in November 2022.

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Big Ben is probably the world's most famous clock. That iconic silhouette is instantly recognisable and is one of the most Instagrammed landmarks on the planet. Six monarchs and 41 prime ministers have come and gone since the bells first struck their now familiar music across Westminster.

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The Elizabeth Tower is the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It contains the Great Clock, a striking clock with five bells. The tower is nicknamed Big Ben, a name which was originally applied only to the largest bell of the clock.

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