Big Ben marks 100 years of broadcasting New Year’s Eve ‘bongs’
This year’s New Year’s Eve ‘bongs’ from Big Ben will mark 100 years since the iconic sounds were first broadcast to the nation, ringing in the start of a new year and signalling the beginning of a tradition recognised across the UK and around the world.
On New Year's Eve 1923, BBC engineer AG Dryland climbed onto a roof opposite the Houses of Parliament with a microphone to record the strikes of Big Ben and the quarter bells. Since then, the sounds of ‘the nation’s timepiece’ have been broadcast every year.
The regular striking of Big Ben and the quarter bells was ceased in 2017 to allow for conservation works to progress. However, during this period, Big Ben continued to be heard on New Year’s Eve, Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, as well as for the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II works - using a specially designed ‘temporary mechanism’ that could strike the bell. Even for most of the Second World War, the sound of the bells continued to be broadcast to listeners at home and abroad.
The bells returned to regular service after 4 days of tests on Remembrance Sunday 13th November 2022. The live sound of the bells resumed regular broadcast on the BBC on Monday 6th November 2023, and can be heard on BBC Radio 4 at 6pm and at midnight, as well as at 10pm on Sundays.
Michael McCann, Keeper of the Great Clock at UK Parliament, said:
“Big Ben’s iconic role in starting the new year cannot be understated. Our dedicated team of clock mechanics take care of the Great Clock all year round, but will be hard at work on New Year’s Eve to make sure the sound of the bongs are heard in London and beyond.”
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, said:
“The chimes of Big Ben have been part of the soundtrack to all our lives. The instantly recognisable, distinctive bongs have marked the beginning of the New Year, and the start of the two-minutes' silence on Remembrance Sunday for decades.
They are a signal, a reminder, a link to our past and the analogue era, when we needed the time to be told to us.
So, I feel incredibly proud to be Speaker of the House of Commons when we are celebrating 100 years since Big Ben’s chimes were first broadcast to the nation.”
Robert Seatter, Head of BBC History, said:
“In 1923, Big Ben’s chimes brought in a new era of time keeping for the nation and the wider world. A hundred years later, they have become a part of all our lives, ringing in the old and new across the UK and around the globe on the BBC.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the Elizabeth Tower conservation project
Essential conservation work to the Elizabeth Tower completed last year, and included:
• Repairs to the Elizabeth Tower, which could not be rectified whilst the Great Clock is in action. This included repairing cracks in the masonry, leaks, erosion, and severe rusting of the metalwork.
• Conservation and renewal of the entire clock mechanism, which was taken apart and restored off-site at specialists in Cumbria.
• Conservation of significant elements of the Tower, as designed by architects Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Pugin. Part of this included bringing the colour scheme back to the original design – fully revealed in December 2021.
• Repairs and redecoration of the interior, renewing the building services and making improvements to health and safety and fire protection systems.
Big Ben and the quarter bells were silenced in 2017 to allow for conservation works to progress. During this period, Big Ben continued to be heard on New Year’s Eve, Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, as well as for the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The bells returned to regular service after 4 days of tests on Remembrance Sunday [13th November] 2022 and resumed regular broadcast on the BBC on Monday 6th November 2023.
About Big Ben
Big Ben is thought to be named after Sir Benjamin Hall, Chief Commissioner of Works at the time the bell was installed. The first bell, cast in 1856 at Stockton-on-Tees, was brought to London by rail and sea. During tests in New Palace Yard a fatal crack appeared. The bell was broken up and a second bell was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
After successful tests this bell was hauled sideways up a shaft inside the Tower. After a few months the new bell also cracked and was silent for four years. It was restored to full voice in 1863, when the bell was rotated 90 degrees and a lighter hammer was installed.
• Weight: 13.7 tonnes
• Height: 2.2m
• Diameter: 2.7m
• Musical note when struck: E
• Hammer weight: 200kg
A history of broadcasting Big Ben’s chimes can be read on the Parliamentary Archives blog.
About the Elizabeth Tower
Standing at 96 metres tall, the Elizabeth Tower is a focal point of the Grade I listed Palace of Westminster, which forms a part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. Not only is it a world-famous landmark, it is also one of the most photographed buildings in the UK.
The name Big Ben is often used to describe the Elizabeth Tower, the clock and the bell, but the name was first given to the Great Bell. The Elizabeth Tower, which stands at the north end of the Houses of Parliament, was completed in 1859 and the Great Clock started on 31st May, with the Great Bell's strikes heard for the first time on 11th July and the quarter bells chiming on 7th September.
About Big Ben tours
Tickets for UK Parliament’s popular Big Ben tours are released on the second Wednesday of each month at 10:00. Visitors on an official Palace of Westminster tour can also see up-close the recently conserved exterior of the Elizabeth Tower on their way into the building.
Find out more about UK Parliament’s range of tours.
More information is available on the Parliament website.
New images of Elizabeth Tower have been released by UK Parliament. All images must be credited: [Photographer’s Name/UK Parliament].