Big Ben consists of:
The Elizabeth Tower
It consists of 850 cubic meters of stone and 2600 cubic meters of bricks. There are 11 floors and the dimensions of the tower itself are over 96 square meters and 12 square meters. Construction of the Clock Tower began in 1843, but it was not completed until 1859.
The Great Clock
There are four clock dials at 7 meters each. The clock's dial frames are made of cast-iron and there are 312 pieces of pot opal glass in each clock dial. It takes 28 energy efficient bulbs at 85watt each to illuminate each dial and each bulb lasts about 60, 000 hours.The minute hands are made out of copper sheet, weigh about 100 kilograms (including counterweights), have the length of 4.2 meters and travels an equivalence of 190 kilometers per year. The hour hands are made out of gun metal, weigh 300 kilograms (including counterweights) and has the length of 2.7 meters. The hour figure of 4 o'clock is shown by the Roman numeral IV, rather than he usual IIII on other clocks. Under each clock dial there is a Latin inscription carved in stone: "Domine Salvam fac Reginam nostrum Victoriam primam" which means "O Lord, save our Queen Victoria the First." The clock was finished being constructed in 1854, but it had to wait to be installed until the Elizabeth Tower was completed in 1859.
The Great Bell
There are two theories for the origin of Big Ben's name. The first is that it was named afar Sir Benjamin Hall who was the first commissioner for Works 1855-1858. The second is that it was named after Ben Caunt who was a champion heavyweight boxer of the 1850s. The first theory is though to be most likely.
The total cost of making the clock and bells and installing them in the Elizabeth Tower reached £22, 000.
Unfortunately, the tour is only available to UK residents and is unavailable to overseas visitors due to reoccurring security problems, especially since the historic clock tower is attached to UK Parliament. The clearance checks that were required for foreigners to ensure terrorists could not target this famous landmark became too complex and costly and so a ban was enforced in late 2010 against all foreigners visiting the premises. British citizens are still allowed to visit Big Ben, but they have to apply first 3-6 months in advance by writing to their Members of Parliament (MP).
