Westminster Bridge, the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben


Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames between Westminster and Lambeth. The current Westminster Bridge was opened in 1862 to replace an earlier bridge which dated from 1750. There had been a ford at low tide here since Roman times and many historians believe that the Romans used to wade cross the river near this point. Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London,[1] and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well.[2] The clock tower holds the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world and is the third-tallest free-standing clock tower.[3] It celebrated its 150th anniversary on 31 May 2009,[4] during which celebratory events took place.[5][6] The tower was completed on 10 April 1858 and has become one of the most prominent symbols of both London and England, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city. The Palace of Westminster, the Clock Tower, and, Westminster Bridge The present Clock Tower — metonymously ,referred to as Big Ben, and historically confused with, St Stephen's Tower ,— was raised as a part of Charles Barry's design for a new palace, after the old ,Palace of Westminster, was largely destroyed by fire on the night of 16 October 1834.[7][8] The new Parliament was built in a Neo-gothic style. Although Barry was the chief architect of the Palace, he turned to Augustus Pugin for the design of the Clock Tower, which resembles earlier Pugin designs, including one for Scarisbrick Hall. The design for the Clock Tower was Pugin's last design before his final descent into madness and death, and Pugin himself wrote, at the time of Barry's last visit to him


Size: 13333px × 4374px
Location: Westminster Bridge, Parliament, London, England
Photo credit: © Louisa E Taylor / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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