Big Ben - the huge clock bell of Britain's Parliament - fell silent as a four-year restoration project gets underway on the Victorian clock and the Elizabeth Tower (formerly known as Clock Tower).

Strictly speaking Big Ben, named after Sir Benjamin Hall, the Commissioner of Works when the bell was installed in 1859, refers only to the 13.5-tonne bell that chimes the hours, although it has ...

the hourly chimes were actually played by the announcer on a set of chime bells in the studio. But Big Ben was broadcast to usher in 1924, and later, a microphone was installed inside the clock ...

In 2012, Big Ben was officially renamed the Elizabeth Tower to honour Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. Queen Victoria ...

The clock has rarely stopped - even after a bomb destroyed the Commons chamber during the Second World War, the clock tower survived and Big Ben continued to strike the hours. The chimes of Big ...