Big Ben And the British Parliament
Mateo Alliende
The Big Ben, named after Sir Benjamin Hall, is said to be the 106 m (320 ft) tower that rises above the houses of parliament. In fact, the name Big Ben is actually referring to the resonance of the 14-ton bell on which the hours are struck. The tower is officially known as the Elizabeth Tower, named after Queen Elizabeth the II. The 14 ton, 7ft 9in tall and 9ft diameter bell was raised in 1858 up to the top of a 200 ft tower where it rests on it’s belfry. This took 18 hours with the 17th century technology that they had. The present bell is the second made for the clock, the first was cracked beyond repair during a test ringing. Two months after the first ringing in 1859, the new bell too cracked under the hammer, but was taken out of commission for three years while it was being repaired. To repair the bell, they chipped a square piece of metal from the rim around the crack and the bell was rotated an eighth of a turn so the new hammer struck in a different place. The bell made a slightly different tone ever since.
This clock was the largest in Britain at the time of its casting, but became second to the 16 3/4 ton “great Paul” in 1881. The clock itself has a 7.5 meter (23 ft) diameter face and a 4.25 meter (14 ft) minute hand with a 9 foot hour hand. The minute hand is made of a hollow copper for lightness. The bottom 200ft of the tower consists of brick work with sand colored limestone cladding. The upper part is made of a framed spire of cast iron. The tower is founded on a 50 ft square raft which is made of 10 ft thick concrete, 13 feet underground. The interior of the tower is 164,200 cubic feet.
Unfortunately, the Big Ben is not open to overseas visitors, despite being one of the most popular tourist attractions. However, citizens of the U.K can request tours (well in advance) through their member of parliament. Since the tower has no lift, the visitors will have to climb the 334 limestone stairs to the top. Since its construction, the changes in ground conditions have leaned the tower 9.1 inches to the north-west.
The Big Ben can be seen rising over one of the most important buildings in the United Kingdom… the Palace of Westminster. Originally, the Palace of Westminster was the home of kings and queens, but now is the usual place for politicians to meet, and the home of the parliament. The palace was granted to them to be an official parliament house in 1550. In parliament, there are three houses; the House of Commons, the Crown, and the House of Lords. Most of the Members in Parliament belong to one of three political parties. In the House of Commons, the leader of the party with the most Members of Parliament, or MPs, is asked by the Queen to become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The House of Commons has over 600 democratically-elected members in parliament, but the Chamber is rarely full. Most of the members have other commitments such as committee work and dealing with constituency matters. Parliamentarians stand up to signal that they want to speak. This is called ‘catching the speakers eye’. The politicians of this chamber’s main job is to debate and make laws.
The second chamber of parliament is the House of Lords. The members in The House of Lords share the responsibility for making laws with the House of Commons and represent the people and work on public interests that will affect all UK citizens. The members here are from all different ways of life and bring knowledge from their work with all different professions and experiences. One of the distinct features of the House of Lords is its ‘cross bench’ members. These politicians do not belong to any one political party and are independent. The members of the House of Lords are chosen by the Queen (with advice from the Prime Minister) and are appointed for life, but their title does not get passed down to family. Any eligible UK citizen can apply or be nominated to become the a member in the House of Lords. The Members of the British Parliament have very important positions and sometimes their arguments and debates can get pretty heated, but the way parliament works is quite fascinating and they seem to get the job done.
