The Elizabeth Tower, popularly called Big Ben, stands at the Palace of Westminster. Fire destroyed the old palace on October 16, 1834, and work on the tower began on September 28, 1843. Augustus Pugin designed it in the Gothic Revival style, and it was his last design before his death in 1852. The tower was completed on May 31, 1859.
It is 316 feet (96 m) tall, with a square base 40 feet (12 m) on each side. Brick walls are clad in Anston limestone. Each clock dial is 22.5 feet (6.9 m) across, centered 180 feet (54.9 m) above the ground. Edmund Beckett Denison and George Airy designed the clock. The Great Bell weighs 13.5 long tons (13.7 tonnes), and the first bell cracked during testing.
The tower was renamed in 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee. A renovation from 2017 to 2021 silenced the bell and cost nearly £80 million. The belfry is 334 steps up.
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