London’s Big Ben, one of the world’s landmarks, looks set to chime again. The tower that houses the enormous bell has been undergoing renovation since 2017. The Elizabeth Tower, called the Clock Tower until it was renamed in 2012, was refurbished at a cost of about $97 million. The restoration work is done, and this summer, a sound familiar to Londoners for more than a century and a half will again ring out across the British capital. The tower stands tall over the Palace of Westminster, which houses the British Parliament and is one of the world’s most instantly recognized constructions. But it is the nickname of the biggest bell in the belfry that draws the most name recognition, and it is replicas of this landmark that make up a substantial chunk of souvenir sales.
During the past five years, the clock, which has four dials, was dismantled and serviced for the first time since it started ticking in 1859. More than 3,500 parts were removed from the 316-foot tower, including much of its iron roof. Each clock face is made of 324 pieces of pot opal glass, which were produced in Germany. “At the end of the day, you could say it is just a series of concentric stone shafts with a bloody great clock on top,” said Adam Watrobski, the chief architect of the tower’s restoration. “But it’s the symbolism, the size of the great clock of Westminster, that gives it its importance.”
Indeed, when Parliament is in session, there is a special illumination above the dials, which Mr. Watrobski said represented “the light of freedom and democracy.” Big Ben, he added, had come to symbolize “the sound of freedom and hope,” particularly during World War II. So important is the chime to the national psyche that special arrangements were made during the renovation for it to strike each year on Remembrance Day, to commemorate Britain’s war dead; and to usher in the New Year. In January 2020, Brexit supporters fought in vain to return it to service to mark the country’s exit from the European Union. The challenges of making that happen, though, become clear when climbing the confined, 334-step stairwell that winds up to the belfry. Big Ben weighs just over 15 tons. Its sheer size, weighing a little over 15 tons, is impressive, as is the intricacy of a clock mechanism based on the most advanced technology available to its 19th-century creators. Before the renovation, it was said it lost no more than a second in accuracy a week. Londoners will hope that the now renovated clock will keep time just as well.