A clock tower is an elevated structure with easily observed clock faces. Usually, a clock tower has four clock faces, one on each side of the tower. Clock towers are mostly free-standing meaning they are not part of any kind of structure. However, there are some clock towers that are part of a church or municipal structures like town halls and capitol buildings.
Clock towers are driven by a mechanism known as turret clock. Most clock towers mark the time by musical sounds or bells every hour. Mostly these alarms are simple musical melodies. These days, clock towers are more often than not admired for aesthetics. However, clock towers once provided vital purposes in the old times because most people in the earlier era do not have timepieces. That is why clock towers are located near the heart of towns or town centers and are usually placed on the tallest building or structure.
There are lots of clock towers all over the world. The most famous of them is the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster or popularly known as the ‘Big Ben’. The Big Ben is a turret clock tower situated at the northeastern part of the Palace of Westminster or more known as the Westminster Palace in London, England. Big Ben was named after the main bell of the clock tower. Big Ben is also referred to as ‘St. Stephen’s Tower’.
Big Ben was erected as part of the design of the new palace after the Palace of Westminster was razed by fire on the 16th of October in 1834. The famous clock tower has a Victorian Gothic design and stands to almost a hundred meters.
Big Ben is renowned for its reliability to tell time and even survived heavy bombings of the Second World War. Big Ben only suffered one major breakdown. This was in 1976 when the chiming system of the turret clock was destroyed due to metal exhaustion but was however reactivated the following year. Big Ben is one of the significant symbols of England and London and has been featured in many types of media (books, movies, etc.).
Another well-known clock tower is the Rajabai Tower of India. The Rajabai Tower is situated within the boundaries of the University of Mumbai. The Rajabai has an elevation of 85 meters and was designed by an English architect named ‘Sir George Gilbert Scott’. The Rajabai Tower was modeled after Big Ben. The Rajabai Tower was constructed in March of 1869 and was completed in November of 1878. The Rajabai Tower was constructed with a ‘Venetian-Gothic’ design. However, the Rajabai Tower was closed to the public after it became a preferred alternative by individuals who wished to commit suicide.
