2-982-431 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Mode of Raising the Great Bell, 1858. 'Big Ben' being installed in the bell tower of the Palace of Westminster in London. 'In giving some idea of the process of raising the great bell it is necessary to mention that the shaft up which the bell ascended is in the centre of the Clock Tower, and is somewhat more than 11 feet 4 inches by 8 feet 2 inches in proportions...One side of the shaft was fitted up with some twelve or fourteen gas-jets, to light the interior during the progress of the work...The cradle had attached to its sides four friction-wheels, which played upon the guide-timbers...to ease the ascent. All being completed, and the centre of gravity found, the cradle was then raised by means of a fine new crab...placed immediately over the aperture of the shaft. Eight men, four to each handle, then drew it up...The windlasses were constantly in motion'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.