~1905: The tower begins to appear on every bottle of HP Sauce, after the condiment wins the approval of the palace's canteen. It is named the Ayrton light after Acton Smee Ayrton, who suggested it. (The building was not adequately hooked up to Bazalgette's sewers and still relied on cess pits.)ġ885: The top of the tower is fitted with a new beacon, which shines out lighthouse-like whenever either House sits after dark. ~1882: The clock tower is turned into London's tallest stink pipe, to reduce the odious smells in the two chambers. The bell has continued to serve ever since, though with occasional stoppages. The tone is thought more subdued that during its infancy. It is voted a bore, by general assent."ġ859 (Sep): Farcically, the second bell also develops a crack and is taken out of service for FOUR YEARS.ġ863 (Nov): Bong! A patched Big Ben finally resumes its tolling. "The noise which it makes is so unearthly, sepulchral, and miserable," thought one commentator, "that one would suppose it was tolling the funeral dirge of the whole human race!. This seems not to have happened, and the nickname of Big Ben became de facto.ġ859 (11 Jul): The second bell is bonged in situ for the first time. Press reports of the time suggest it will be officially unveiled by Queen Victoria and named the "Royal Victoria" in her honour. It is later transported to New Palace Yard.ġ858 (14 Oct): The great bell is raised up into the tower. Funny to think that Big Ben once rung out over the East End. This time, the clapper is deployed in Whitechapel itself, "to the astonishment and alarm of the whole vicinity". The bell is irreparable, so is removed and melted down.ġ858 (12 May): A brand new Big Ben, recast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, gets its first public airing. Subsequent inspection reveals a deep crack in the metal. According to one reporter at the time, it was "Like a potent poison, the vibration penetrates every vein in the body it strikes every nerve, it attacks and tries every fibre in the muscle, it makes your bones rattle and your marrow creep." It would toll 1pm every Saturday for the next 11 months.ġ857 (24 Oct): Disaster! The bell rings out at a decidedly different pitch. The booming resonance put the willies up half of Westminster. The mighty bell - the largest in England - was struck for the first time in public at the foot of the still-under-construction tower. The London Evening Standard of 22 October notes "All bells, we believe, are christened before they being to toll, and on the occasion it is proposed to call our king of bells "Big Ben," in honour of Sir Benjamin Hall, the President of the Board of Works." Rival theories that the bell was nicknamed after a popular boxer of the time are not mentioned in the press, but it's quite possible that the nickname played on this moniker as well as honouring Benjamin Hall.ġ856 (13 Nov): Big Ben, cast in Stockton-on-Tees, gets its first test. Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin's grand gothic plans win unanimous approval, although concerns are raised about the huge cost of the thing.ġ843 (28 Sep): Construction work begins on the Clock Tower.ġ852: The great clock at the heart of the tower is constructed by John Dent, to a design by Edmund Beckett Denison.ġ856 (Oct): The name "Big Ben" appears in print for the first time. Though utterly disastrous, the conflagration tees things up for the much more impressive Houses of Parliament we know today.ġ836 (29 Feb): After a fierce competition with 97 entrants, the winning scheme for the rebuilding works is announced on the leap day. Only Westminster Hall, the Jewel Tower and a few other fragments survive. * See our previous article for discussion about the various names and levels of pedantry.Īlso in this series: BT Tower, Buckingham Palace, London Zoo, Millennium Dome/O2, Westminster Abbeyġ834 (16 Oct): The old Houses of Parliament burn to the ground in a devastating fire.
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