It is the hour bell that is called Big Ben: the clock is properly called The Great Clock of the Palace of Westminster, while the tower is known as the Clock Tower.
The bell is to announce to the assembled legislator and to all who may hear it the passage of time.
On September 12, 2012, in commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, the Westminster Clock Tower was officially renamed The Elizabeth Tower.
The first clock at Westminster was installed in a clock tower around 1290. The tower was demolished in 1707 and the bell sold to St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Big Ben’s history goes back to 1844, when government officials decided that the Parliament building should have a new clock tower.
Becket Denison a young lawyer and amateur horologist designed a new clock and the construction of the new clock was put out to tender.
In 1852, the company of Edward John Dent won the contract. By 1858, the clock tower was well enough advanced that it was decided to order bells for the tower, there were to be four quarter bells and a large hour bell of about 14 tons.
The tower was officially open on September 7, 1859 and its architect, Sir Charles Barry outlived it by only a year.
The great bell acquired the name Big Ben, in perpetual memory of Sir Benjamin Hall, whose presidency as the Chief Commission for Works it has been cast.
Big Ben is famous because it is known to always have the correct time.
Big Ben of London
