The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster - officially named Saint Stephen's Tower - is commonly known as the Big Ben.
威斯敏斯特宫的钟楼——其官方名称为圣斯蒂芬楼——被人们普遍称为大本钟。
The clock inside the tower was the world's largest when it was installed in the middle of the nineteenth century. The name Big Ben actually refers to the clock's hour bell, the largest of the clock's five bells. The hour bell was probably named after Benjamin Hall, the First Commissioner of Works. The clock faces have a diameter of almost 25ft(7.5m). The hour hand is 9ft (2.7m) long and the minute hand measures 14ft (4.25m) long. The clock is known for its reliability and has rarely failed during its long life span. Even after the nearby House of Commons was destroyed by bombing during World War II, the clock kept on chiming. The clock's mechanism , designed by Edmund Beckett Denison, has a remarkable accuracy . The clock's rate is adjusted by simply adding small pennies on the shoulder of the pendulum . The tower was constructed between 1843 and 1858 as the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster. It rises 316ft high (96m) and the clock faces are 180ft (55m) above ground level.
安置于钟楼内的钟在19世纪中期建成时是当时世界上最大的。大本钟这个名字实际上来自于5个排钟中最大的时钟。该时钟可能是以建造工程的第一名专员本杰明·霍尔命名的。钟盘的直径大约为25英尺(7.5米)。时针长9英尺(2.7米)，分针据测长14英尺(4.25米)。大本钟一向以其准时而著名，从开始报时起很少停走过。第二次世界大战时期，尽管它旁边的众议院被炮弹击毁，它仍然没有停止报时。钟的机械装置是由埃德蒙·贝克特·丹尼森设计的，非常精准。钟的速率则仅仅是通过在钟摆上添加小的硬币来调整的。钟楼建于1843年到1858年间，当时是作为威斯敏斯特宫的塔楼建造的。楼高316英尺(96米)，钟盘则距地面180英尺(55米)。
