Little Ben is a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

miniature

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

, situated at the intersection of

Vauxhall Bridge Road The London Inner Ring Road, or Ring Road as signposted, is a route with an average diameter of formed from a number of major roads that encircle Central London. The ring road forms the boundary of the London congestion charge zone, although t ...

and Victoria Street, in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, central

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, close to the approach to Victoria station. In design it mimics the famous

colloquially known as

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 ...

at 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 ...

, found at the other end of Victoria Street. Little Ben was manufactured, according to Pevsner, by Gillett & Johnston 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 was erected in 1892; removed from the site in 1964, and restored and re-erected in 1981 by

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

with sponsorship from Elf Aquitaine Ltd "offered as a gesture of Franco-British friendship". There is a rhyming couplet ''Apology for Summer Time'' signed "J.W.R." affixed to the body of the clock: The couplet is a reference to the plan that the clock be permanently on

Daylight Saving Time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...

leading to the time being correct for France during the winter months and correct for the UK during the summer. However this policy was either changed, or never implemented, since recently it is on GMT in winter and BST in summer like all other clocks in Great Britain. А replica of Little Ben called ''Lorloz'' (painted silver) was erected in 1903 in the centre of Victoria, capital of

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. Little Ben was removed in 2012 and put in storage during upgrade works to

London Victoria station Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Qu ...

. The timepiece was refurbished and the clock tower was reinstalled on 28 February 2016. Little Ben was listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England in December 1987.

References

{{coord, 51.49646, N, 0.14265, W, type:landmark, display=title 1892 in London Buildings and structures completed in 1892 Clock towers in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster Grade II listed monuments and memorials Individual clocks in England Monuments and memorials in London Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster Victoria, London

See also

References