Cold Open - The Palace of Westminster Burns

It’s 6 PM on the evening of October 16th, 1834 in the Palace of Westminster, home to the British parliament in London.

The wife of one of the building’s doorkeepers strides across the lobby. After a long day running errands, she’s eager to get back to her quarters and fix dinner. But as she hastens through the palace's hallowed halls, an eerie light catches her eye - a strange, flickering glow seeping through the crack beneath the door to the House of Lords.

She cautiously walks over to investigate… and, with a creak, pushes open the heavy door.

She gasps as she takes in the horrifying scene before her.

Flames hungrily devour the walls and curtains. Terror seizes the woman and she screams out: the House of Lords is on fire!

Panic ensues as the woman’s harrowing cry echoes through the halls. The woman rushes out of the building alongside the other frantic staff. And from a safe distance, she watches as billowing plumes of smoke darken the sky. 

And then a giant ball of fire bursts through the building’s roof, engulfing entire palace in flames.

 The Great Fire of 1834, as this incident will come to be known, captivates the city of London. Hundreds of thousands of citizens come out to see the palace burning. All through the night, courageous firefighters and volunteers work together to quell the fire. But it will take five days for it to be fully extinguished. By the time it’s all over, most of the building has burned to the ground. But from the ashes, a new palace will be built, complete with a clock tower designed to be the largest and most accurate timepiece of its age. Known as Big Ben, the clock will go on to become one of London’s signature landmarks after it begins operating on May 31st, 1859.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is May 31st, 1859: Big Ben Starts Telling Time.

Act One: Who will make the Great Clock?

It’s July 1846 in London, more than a decade after the Palace of Westminster burned to the ground.

Clockmaker Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy stands in his home, quaking with rage at a letter he just received from the esteemed architect Charles Barry.

After the Palace was destroyed, the job of designing a new building for the British parliament was given to Charles. He created a plan for a beautiful new structure, exhibiting the finest architectural techniques of the day.

But one of the building’s most striking features will be an elegant clock tower. And Charles originally tasked Benjamin with its construction. Benjamin is Clockmaker to the Queen and the head of the clockmaker’s guild. But despite these credentials, his peers objected to Benjamin’s appointment. They didn’t feel it was right that such a prestigious opportunity should be handed out without a fair competition. So they asked the officials overseeing the construction to accept other proposals for the job. And now, Benjamin has received word from Charles that he must submit his plan for the clock to be judged alongside other clockmakers’ designs.

The news shocks Benjamin. He finds it outrageous that he could be expected to compete for a role he’s clearly qualified for. Even more ridiculous is the list of 15 specifications that the Royal Astronomer, George Airy, and judge in this contest, decides the House of Parliament’s so-called Great Clock must meet. Among them, the Royal Astronomer has demanded that the clock should be designed so that the stroke of each hour will be accurate to a second in time. Nobody has ever designed a clock that precise on a scale as large as the Great Clock will be. Benjamin scoffs at the idea and curses the outlandish requests.

So Benjamin refuses to submit a plan for the clock. He doesn’t think the Royal Astronomer is the most-qualified man to judge this contest. And furthermore, Benjamin believes he is prejudiced in favor of Benjamin’s rival, Edward Dent who recently worked under the Royal Astronomer's supervision to build a new clock elsewhere in the city. 

Benjamin worries he’ll never get the job if he goes up against Edward. But his pride gets the better of him. He can’t stand giving up on the chance to design a clock for such a historic building. So, Benjamin does submit a plan, but on his terms. He argues that the requirements laid out are unrealistic. And so his plan ignores half of them. If any of his competitors’ plans do fulfill the terms, Benjamin maintains that they are unachievable. And Benjamin is sure his idea will work. To prove it, he even offered to create a working model of his clock, one-fourth size, to accompany his blueprint.

With this, Benjamin is certain his plan will be too good to refuse. But his confidence is misplaced. When the Royal Astronomer reviews Benjamin’s scheme, he’s not impressed. Though it meets his requirements for size and sturdiness, it does not meet the standards for accuracy and precision. Benjamin’s clock will essentially only be a bigger, more sophisticated village clock.

When word of this response gets back to Benjamin, the clockmaker again grows furious and starts writing letters disputing the competition process. Their disagreement over the details of the clock’s design and how to choose its maker drags on for years. Eventually, another man is brought to help choose the Great Clock’s maker and assist in its design. Sir Edmund Beckett is a member of parliament, a lawyer, and an expert in clock-making. He studies all of the submissions closely but then also disqualifies Benjamin’s design, before ultimately selecting Benjamin's rival, Edward Dent, to build the clock.

Benjamin is livid at this outcome. He swears that Edward will never complete a clock that meets the contest's standards and specifications. And he was right because, in March 1853, Edward dies before his clock is finished. 

When the job is passed on to Edward’s son, Frederick, Benjamin sees an opportunity to reclaim the Great Clock. He sues to declare Edward’s contract void, now that he is deceased. But his suit ultimately fails, and Edward’s son is given the right to finish the work of building the Great Clock. Not long after, Benjamin himself passes away.

So without a competitor to interfere, Frederick Dent will take on the work of his father, completing the world’s largest and most accurate clock. But it will not be a simple process. More challenges await before his creation will finally overlook the city of London.

Act Two: Building the Clock

It’s fall 1854 inside clockmaker Frederick Dent’s workshop.

Sir Edmund Beckett stands in front of the mechanism that will one day be the heart of the Great Clock. As he looks up at the elaborate timekeeping machinery, Edmund can hardly contain his pride.

Although he is best known for his combative style as a lawyer, clockmaking is one of his greatest passions. And he may be just an amateur, but his knowledge of the craft is unparalleled. He wrote the entry on clocks for the Encyclopedia Britannica and just recently published a reference book on clockmaking. But none of those projects have been as rewarding, or challenging, as the design and construction of Westminster Palace’s Great Clock. Years of effort have gone into it. And now, Edmund is ready to see if the device works as it should. He looks at Frederick with anticipation and then gives the clockmaker the signal to start the machine.

The sound and sight of the clock in action is like a symphony to Edmund. Polished gears, wheels, weights, and pendulums, all move in harmony. A smile bursts across his face and he lets out a cheer. Everything is working as it should. Edmund reaches out and shakes Frederick’s hand, congratulating him on bringing his father’s design to life.

The clock is a mechanical wonder. Each face is made of hundreds of pieces of opal glass. In the daytime, it will beautifully catch the sunlight, and at night, the dials will be illuminated so the time can be read from miles in every direction.

But Edmund still needs to figure out if the clock can withstand the unpredictable conditions of the real world. So over the course of several months, he subjects the clock to various tests to ensure it meets the standards set out by him and Royal Astronomer more than a decade ago. But the clock passes every trial, and soon officials are notified that the Great Clock is ready to go up.

But while the clock is finished, its tower is not. The 316-foot structure is a massive undertaking, built by a team of over 350 workers. So, as the tower’s construction continues, Edmund turns his attention to carrying out his ambitious vision for the clock’s bells.

The bell used to sound the hour will be the largest ever molded. Making sure it’s big enough, strong enough, but not too heavy is yet another engineering challenge. But Edmund tackles it enthusiastically, not trusting anyone else to get the job done better than himself.

It takes almost two years before a suitable design for the enormous bell is completed. But finally, in August 1856, the great 14-ton bell is cast according to Edmund’s plans and enters a testing period. Throughout 1857 the bell is struck repeatedly. And as it rings out through London, residents are satisfied its sound will be the perfect accompaniment to the world’s largest clock.

But then disaster strikes. In October, the bell cracks. Its makers blame Edmund, claiming it was his decision to use a heavy hammer to strike the giant bell. These remarks outrage Edmund who responds by casting the blame on the bell’s craftsmen. He insists they manufactured it poorly. But their argument is unproductive; no matter who is responsible, the fact remains a new bell must be made.

So with his pride on the line, Edmund begins to oversee the molding of a second bell. Early into this job, he discovers some vindicating evidence. When the original bell is demolished, a flaw is found, indicating that its crack was the result of poor manufacturing.

But while satisfying for Edmund, this revelation forces him to work even harder to ensure that the new company molding the second bell follows his exact specifications. After months of focus and determination, the project is completed; the bell is finally ready to be installed in the clock tower. It takes teams of men working in shifts for days to get the giant creation up into the clock tower’s belfry, and when they do, the only thing left to do is attach the hands and put the clock in motion.

After years of planning, and many delays, Edmund will be more than ready for the public to see the Great Clock. But there will be one more challenge before he can finally celebrate the end of his work.

Act Three: Big Ben’s first day

It’s spring 1859 in London, almost twenty-five years after the great fire destroyed the Palace of Westminster.

Sir Edmund Beckett watches eagerly as workers install a 9-foot long hour hand and 14-foot minute hand onto the Great Clock. After thirteen years of working and waiting, this architectural marvel is finally completed.

All along, the biggest challenge was ensuring that a clock so large could also be precise. Edmund knows that with clocks the size as this one, the elements can put pressure on the sizable hands, disrupting the clock’s accuracy. And that’s why Edmund designed a special mechanism called the double-3-legged escapement. It’s supposed to allow the clock’s hands to withstand all kinds of conditions but maintain the clock’s precision.

But when the clock is started, something is wrong. As the hands lurch forward, there’s a screeching sound and the clock’s mechanism grinds to a halt. Edmund curses the palace’s head architect, Charles Barry, under his breath. It was Charles who was intent on making the clock’s hands out of cast iron. Now, with the clock situated vertically atop the tower, its hands are far too heavy to move.

If the clock does not work after all these years, Edmund knows his reputation will be ruined. Determined to show his critics, and the world, that this clock is as great as he claimed, Edmund gets to work. He designs a new set of hands, replacing the iron with gunmetal and copper. The combination is a success and, with the new hands finally able to move as they should, the Great Clock is ready to begin operation.

On May 31st, 1859, Edmund stands among crowds of Londoners eager to witness the clock in action. As the hands start ticking, some residents begin to cheer. But Edmund saves his celebration for later. Throughout the day, he checks his own timepiece obsessively, making sure the time on the Great Clock still matches it. Each time he checks, he holds his breath, before breathing a sigh of relief. The clock is as precise and reliable as he ever hoped. And by the day’s end, it’s safe to say that Edmund has done what many said was impossible. He has produced a clock that’s larger than any other in the world, and just as accurate.

Over the coming months, the clock’s bell will be nicknamed Big Ben, and the Great Clock will soon be known by the same name. In the years that follow, Big Ben will survive two World Wars; its bells will mark national moments of celebration and mourning; and it will become one of the city’s greatest tourist attractions. But the clock tower may never have become such an iconic piece of architecture had it not been for the effort of Sir Edmund Beckett and the many others who brought Big Ben to life on May 31st, 1859.

Outro

Next on History Daily. June 1st, 1962. Former high-ranking Nazi and architect of the Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann, is executed for his crimes against humanity.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Ruben Abrahams Brosbe.

Produced by Alexandra Currie-Buckner.

Executive Producers are Steven Walters for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.