The ceremony at the top of the Elizabeth Tower – popularly known as Big Ben – was preceded by traditional bagpipe music and an evergreen bough was attached to the scaffolding by the building and civil engineering company delivering the conservation project, Sir Robert McAlpine Special Projects Ltd.
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What is officially known as the Great Clock of Westminster was surrounded by scaffolding in 2017 for crews to not only work on rehabbing the exterior but also attend to the massive mechanisms that power the four-faced clock.
On 21 August 2017, Big Ben's chimes were silenced for four years to allow essential restoration work to be carried out on the tower. The decision to silence the bells was made to protect the hearing of the workers on the tower, and drew much criticism from senior MPs and Prime Minister Theresa May.
What is Big Ben's formal name? The tower housing Big Ben was formally known as St.Stephen's Tower until 2012, when it was renamed Elizabeth Tower on the occasion of Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, celebrating 60 years on the British throne.
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.
Inside Big Ben and how to visitYou can visit Big Ben by booking a 90-minute guided tour that takes visitors up 334 stairs to see the clock mechanism room, behind the four clock dials and the Belfry, where the famous bell is located. Tours can be booked by visiting the official UK Parliament website.
Weighing around five tons and housed directly beneath the belfry, the clock mechanism consists of three trains, or sections: the going train, which advances the four sets of hands; the chiming train, which pulls the cables that make the four quarter bells ring; and the striking chain, which powers the giant hammer that ...