Big Ben Cast: London's Iconic Bell Emerges
The bell now called Big Ben was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1858 after the original, cast by Warner's of Norton, cracked during testing in the yard of the Palace of Westminster. The replacement weighs 13.76 tonnes and stands 7 feet 6 inches tall. It cracked again in 1859, just months after installation, and has rung with a distinctive tone ever since because the crack was never repaired; instead, the bell was rotated so the hammer strikes a different spot. Strictly speaking, Big Ben is the bell, not the tower, which was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The bell rings in the key of E natural and can be heard up to nine miles away in favorable conditions.
April 10, 1858
168 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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