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Big Ben renovations





Big Ben – the clock at Westminster Palace in London – is about to undergo emergency renovations to restore it to its original colour scheme. However, it is more than a face lift – the repairs are needed for maintenance.

Big Ben was built in 1856 and completed in 1858. The Great Clock (or The Great Bell) – or commonly just The Clock Tower – is nicknamed Big Ben. It was officially renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

The clock face is the second largest four-faced chiming clock in the world (second to the Minneapolis City Hall clock in America).

Part of the renovations are to change the current black and gold paintwork of the clock face to its original colour scheme of green and gold. This is to reflect Pugin’s original design. Augustus Pugin (1812-1852) designed the 96 metre-high (315 feet) clock tower in Gothic Revival style in 1852 to complement the Neo-Gothic style of the Houses of Parliament. Charles Barry won the architectural competition in 1846 to design Westminister Palace, but he relied on Pugin to create its Gothic interiors and the clock tower, particularly the bell tower.

The renovations are expected to start in January 2017 and take up to three years. During this time the clock bells will be silenced for up to several months.



http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/big-ben-could-silenced-30million-7824749


MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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