Big Ben and the vertical rhythm of Westminster

Big Ben anchors London’s Westminster skyline with a 96 m Gothic clock tower that rings out over the Thames and frames the British Parliament beneath it.

Big Ben rises above the Palace of Westminster as a vertical landmark where timekeeping, politics and Gothic architecture meet in a single tower. Completed in 1859, the structure now called the Elizabeth Tower holds the Great Clock of Westminster and the bell whose nickname has come to define the whole ensemble.

A Gothic tower of stone, brick and iron

The tower known as Big Ben stands at the northern end of the Palace of Westminster beside the River Thames in the London district of Westminster. It forms part of the parliamentary complex and shares its Victorian Gothic character with the surrounding façades of the palace. The tower reaches about 96 m (315 ft) from the ground to the top of its lantern, giving it a clear presence above the riverside terrace.The Elizabeth Tower is made from stone facing over a brick structure, with a cast-iron spire rising above the main body of the tower.

The architecture of the tower belongs to the Gothic Revival, in the Perpendicular tradition that shapes the rest of the Palace of Westminster. Architect Charles Barry led the redesign of the palace after the fire of 1834, while Augustus Pugin provided the detailed Gothic treatment for the clock tower and its ornament.The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin and carries his characteristic vertical tracery and pinnacles. Construction of the tower began in 1843, and the structure reached completion in 1859, when the clock mechanism and Great Bell came into service.

The Great Clock of Westminster

Big Ben is strictly the nickname of the largest bell in the tower, but in everyday use the name also refers to the clock and the structure that carries it.The bell hangs in the belfry near the top of the tower and strikes the hours, while four smaller quarter bells mark the quarter hours. The Great Bell weighs about 13.7 tonnes and stands over 2 m high, with a broad profile that fills much of the belfry chamber.

Each of the four clock dials faces a different direction, set into the upper stages of the tower above a band of stone tracery. The dials measure several metres across and are framed by cast-iron elements that hold hundreds of individual glass panels in place.The minute hands extend more than 4 m from the centre of each dial, while the Roman numerals around the edge stand over half a metre high. Behind the glass, a turret clock mechanism drives all four faces in synchrony and keeps the pendulum regulated with small weights placed on its arm.

Names, dates and the skyline of Westminster

The clock tower at Westminster carried a different official name for much of its history. It was long known simply as the Clock Tower, a functional label that reflected its role within the rebuilt Palace of Westminster. In 2012 the British Parliament marked the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II by renaming the structure the Elizabeth Tower, placing the sovereign’s name on one of the most recognisable elements of the parliamentary estate.The renaming took place in 2012, more than 150 years after the clock first began to strike.

Standing on the bank of the Thames, the tower forms a visual marker for the boundary between the parliamentary estate and the rest of Westminster. Its base is a square plan with sides of about 12 m, rising through eleven floors before narrowing into a tiered roof and lantern.Inside, staircases climb from the entrance level up to the clock room and the belfry, passing maintenance spaces and service levels. At night an Ayrton light above the clock faces signals that Parliament is in session, linking the luminous tower directly to the work of the legislature below.

Visiting Big Ben: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• Big Ben stands on the north side of the Palace of Westminster in central London, close to the River Thames and the Westminster district’s underground and bus connections.
• The area around the tower is level city pavement, but the interior of the Elizabeth Tower contains narrow staircases with several hundred steps between the entrance and the upper levels.
• The official language is English and the currency is the pound sterling.

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Frequently asked questions about Big Ben

Where is Big Ben located?

Big Ben stands at the northern end of the Palace of Westminster in the Westminster district of central London, beside the River Thames.

What can visitors see at Big Ben?

Visitors see the Gothic stone tower rising above the Houses of Parliament, the four large clock faces and the relationship between the Elizabeth Tower and the riverside façades.

What makes Big Ben distinctive?

Big Ben combines a 96 m Gothic Revival clock tower, a precisely regulated four-faced clock and the Great Bell whose chimes mark the hours over Westminster.