Big Ben and Westminster Palace

Big Ben and Westminster Palace

A Famous Bell Big Ben is a huge bell at the top of a tall clock tower in London, England. The bell is as heavy as two elephants. Big Ben, the tower, and the clock are all important. They are part of Westminster Palace, which is home to Parliament. People all over the world have heard of Big Ben.

An Old Building Westminster Palace has several buildings. The oldest building is Westminster Hall. The hall is more than nine hundred years old and is still used today. Kings and queens lived at Westminster until 1512.

Burned Down and Built Up A fire in 1834 burned most of Westminster Palace. Six years later, there was a search to find someone to build the palace again. Charles Barry got the job. It took thirty years and a lot of money to build the new palace.

Augustus Pugin planned the clock that is part of the tower. Pugin decided to make a clock with four faces--one on each side. Each clock face has 312 pieces of glass.

Westminster Palace has three towers. For many years, the Victoria Tower was the largest square stone tower in the world. The Elizabeth Tower is the clock tower that holds Big Ben. The Central Tower was planned as a chimney for smoke from fireplaces inside the palace.