2-969-799 - /Heritage Images

The Great Clock-Dial of the New Houses of Parliament, [London], illuminated, 1856. 'The Great Clock, we understand, is ready for being placed in the tower; the upper portion of which we have engraved from a Sketch taken during the experimental lighting of the Clock dial, which, we should explain, is but a rough model made merely for the purpose of trying the power of illumination; the precise details of the dial are not at present decided...The clock has been manufactured by Mr. Dent, of the Strand; and some idea of its magnitude may be imagined when we state the diameter of the face is about twenty four feet'. During the 19th century the tower was known as the Clock Tower (also referred to as St Stephen's Tower). Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell inside the tower. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.