About Big Ben
After fire destroyed most of the old Palace of Westminster in 1834, Charles Barry won the competition to rebuild it, and Augustus Pugin designed much of the Gothic detail. The clock tower at the north end of the palace was Pugin’s last major design. It was finished in 1859, and the clock started keeping time that year.
Strictly speaking, Big Ben is the name of the Great Bell inside the belfry, which weighs about 13.7 tonnes, but the name has long stuck to the whole tower. Officially it was simply the Clock Tower until 2012, when it was renamed the Elizabeth Tower to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
The clock was designed by Edmund Beckett Denison and built by the firm of Edward John Dent, and it became famous for its accuracy: its pendulum is still fine-tuned by adding or removing old pennies. Each of the four dials is about seven metres across, with cast-iron frames and pieces of opal glass. Above the belfry, the Ayrton Light shines whenever either House of Parliament sits after dark.
Between 2017 and 2022 the tower was wrapped in scaffolding for its largest restoration, which brought back Pugin’s original colour scheme, including the Prussian blue of the dials.
The diorama
The tower is built at one unit for one and a half metres: a stone shaft with Gothic panelling and corner buttresses, the clock stage with four lit dials framed in gold, the belfry with its lancet openings and corner pinnacles, and the Ayrton Light under the slate spire. The clock hands run as a timelapse, the minute hand going all the way round every two seconds.
Beside it stands a stretch of the Palace of Westminster’s river front with its row of pinnacles and a central spire, and the green arches of Westminster Bridge cross the Thames. Across the road lies a corner of Parliament Square with trees, benches and a statue. Halfway through the reel the sky clouds over for a London shower, and everyone in the street puts up an umbrella; then the rain stops, the floodlights come on and the clock faces glow over the river.
Things to spot
- Umbrellas popping up when the rain starts
- Two red double-deckers and two black cabs, driving on the left
- A red phone box and a post box
- A tour boat on the Thames
- Pigeons circling the tower
- The clock hands racing round
What we simplified
- Only one stretch of the Palace of Westminster is shown, with a single central spire; Victoria Tower and Westminster Hall are left out.
- Parliament Square, the bridge and the road are squeezed in close around the tower, and the panelling and windows are simplified.
Questions
How tall is Big Ben?
The Elizabeth Tower, known as Big Ben, is about 96 metres tall. Each of its four clock dials is about seven metres across.
When was Big Ben built?
The tower was completed in 1859, and its clock started on 31 May 1859. It was built after fire destroyed most of the old Palace of Westminster in 1834.
Is Big Ben the bell or the tower?
Strictly speaking, Big Ben is the Great Bell inside the belfry, which weighs about 13.7 tonnes. The name has long stuck to the whole tower, officially the Clock Tower until 2012 and the Elizabeth Tower since.
Who designed Big Ben?
Augustus Pugin designed the tower, within Charles Barry’s new Palace of Westminster; it was Pugin’s last major design. The clock itself was designed by Edmund Beckett Denison and built by the firm of Edward John Dent.
How was this pixel-art diorama of Big Ben made?
It is a real-time Three.js scene running on this page, drawn at 360 × 640 pixels with outlines and a small palette, then scaled up without smoothing. Press “Explore in 3D”, drag to turn it, and switch between day, dusk and night.
Isometric maps of London
London also has 3 isometric pixel-art maps made by the community: the whole city drawn tile by tile in the same SimCity-like style. See the maps of London →
