大本鐘
大笨鐘，或大本鐘（Big Ben），即威斯敏斯特宮鐘塔，英國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)會(huì)議廳附屬的鐘樓 (Clock Tower) 的大報(bào)時(shí)鐘的昵稱。是坐落在英國(guó)倫敦泰晤士河畔的一座鐘樓，是倫敦的標(biāo)志性建筑之一。鐘樓高95米，鐘直徑9英尺，重13.5噸。每15分鐘響一次。
大笨鐘的命名來(lái)源眾說(shuō)紛紜，有一種說(shuō)法稱大本鐘的名字來(lái)自于本杰明·豪爾爵士。
大鐘于1858年4月10日建成，是英國(guó)最大的鐘。塔起碼有320英尺高（約合97.5米），分針有14英尺長(zhǎng)（約合4.27米），大笨鐘用人工發(fā)條，國(guó)會(huì)開(kāi)會(huì)期間，鐘面會(huì)發(fā)出光芒，每隔一小時(shí)報(bào)時(shí)一次。
每年的夏季與冬天時(shí)間轉(zhuǎn)換時(shí)會(huì)把鐘停止，進(jìn)行零件的修補(bǔ)、交換，鐘的調(diào)音等。

Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster

The Clock Tower is a turret clock structure at the north-eastern end of the Houses of Parliament building in Westminster, London, England. It is popularly known as Big Ben, but this name is actually a nickname for the clock's main bell. The tower has also been referred to as St. Stephen's Tower or The Tower of Big Ben, in reference to its bell.

Structure
The tower was raised as a part of Charles Barry's design for a new palace, after the old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire on the night of October 16, 1834. The tower is designed in the Victorian Gothic style, and is 96.3 metres (316 feet) high.
The first 61 metres (250 feet) of the structure is the clock tower, consisting of brickwork with stone cladding; the remainder of the tower's height is a framed spire of cast iron. The tower is founded on a 15 by 15 metre (49 by 49 foot) raft, made of 3-metre (9-foot) thick concrete, at a depth of 7 metres (23 feet) below ground level. The four clock faces are 55 metres (180 feet) above ground.
Due to ground conditions present since construction, the tower leans slightly to the north-west, by roughly 220 millimetres (8.66 inches). Due to thermal effects it oscillates annually by a few millimetres east and west.

Clock faces
The clock faces were once large enough to allow the Clock Tower to be the largest four-faced clock in the world, but have since been outdone by the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The builders of the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower did not add chimes to the clock, so the Great Clock of Westminster still holds the title of the world's largest four-faced chiming clock. The clock mechanism itself was completed by 1854, but the tower was not fully constructed until four years later in 1858.
The clock and dials were designed by Augustus Pugin. The clock faces are set in an iron framework 21 feet (7 metres) in diameter, supporting 576 pieces of opal glass, rather like a stained glass window. Some of the glass pieces may be removed for inspection of the hands. The surround of the dials is heavily gilded. At the base of each clock face in gilt letters is the Latin inscription 'DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM' meaning 'O Lord, keep safe our queen Victoria the First'.
The clock became operational on September 7, 1859.
During World War II, the Palace of Westminster was hit by German bombing, destroying the House of Commons and causing damage to the tower's western clockface.

The main bell
The main bell, officially known as the Great Bell, is the largest bell in the tower and part of the Great Clock of Westminster. The bell is better known by the nickname Big Ben.

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