Big Brum is the local name for the clock tower on the

Council House, Birmingham Birmingham City Council House in Birmingham, England, is the home of Birmingham City Council, and thus the seat of local government for the city. It provides office accommodation for both employed council officers, including the Chief Executive ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Built in 1885, the clock tower is part of the first extension to the original Council House of 1879 and stands above the Museum & Art Gallery. The clock tower, Museum & Art Gallery and Council House were designed by architect

Yeoville Thomason Henry Richard Yeoville Yardley Thomason (17 July 1826 – 19 July 1901) was a British architect active in Birmingham. He was born in Edinburgh to a Birmingham family, and set up his own practice in Birmingham 1853–54. Life Yeoville ...

and form a single block. The clock was donated by Follett Osler, a local pioneer in the measurement of meteorological and chronological data. The clock mechanism was supplied by Gillett & Co. of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, and the clock-tower and lofty entrance portico were considered the "most conspicuous features" of the exterior upon opening.'New Public Buildings in Birmingham', ''The Builder'', 5 December 1885, p. 786. " Brum" is the local term for the town, the people and the dialect, and the name "Big Brum" can refer to either the clock, the tower or the bell. It is an allusion to the popular name of the clock tower of the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

, which houses the bell

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...

. The Birmingham clock tower bell also rings with the

Westminster Chimes The Westminster Quarters, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, is a melody used by a set of four quarter bells to mark each quarter-hour. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, Cambridge Quarters or Cambridge Chimes from its place of ...

References

External links

Birmingham Libraries Collection - Victoria Square and the Council House - 1912
Buildings and structures in Birmingham, West Midlands Clock towers in the United Kingdom Individual clocks in England Towers in the West Midlands (county) Towers completed in 1885 {{WestMidlands-geo-stub