Man born near Newark helped design clock mechanism of world-renowned Big Ben

The Elizabeth Tower — better known as Big Ben — is close to completing its biggest conservation effort in 160 years. While much of the work has taken place in London, teams from right across the UK, including the East Midlands, have contributed to the restoration.

The region’s connection to the tower starts right at the beginning, with the man who helped design Big Ben’s famous clock mechanism — Edmund Beckett Denison, who was born near Newark.

Fast-forward over a century and a half, when it came to bringing the tower back to its former glory, it was teams from the East Midlands that helped to uncover some of its most eye-catching elements.

The architecture and heritage team in Parliament worked with a team of paint experts at Lincoln University, led by Rhiannon Clarricoates and Phillipa McDonnell, to analyse over 160 years of paint applied to the clock tower. Looking at each layer of paint, the Lincoln teams identified six different colour schemes used over the years — including a vibrant Prussian Blue.

Using this analysis and references including Barry’s original design watercolour, contemporary illustrations and archival photographs, teams at the university have helped recreate the original colour scheme. Painstaking work has now removed the old, black paint from the dials and stone, so that Charles Barry’s original design can be reinstated once more.

It’s the version that Denison — born near Newark-on-Trent in 1816 — would recognise best.

One of the most important individuals in the tower’s history, he is most well-known for his ‘double three-legged gravity escapement’ — the device that allows the clock to keep time accurately.

Denison’s invention was revolutionary, providing unprecedented accuracy following two years of painstaking research and construction — and costing £2,500 (equivalent to about £285,000 today).

The clock was installed in April, 1859, when the building works were complete, and it successfully began keeping time on May 31, 1859.

It was also Denison who chose the tune played on the four smaller bells, the Cambridge Quarters from the church of Great St Mary’s in Cambridge.

It isn’t just the brilliant hues of the clock dials and the ingenious mechanism that give Big Ben an East Midlands link — it’s in the bones of the building, too.

When the tower last underwent repairs, stone from Clipsham in Rutland was used to repair wartime damage and help fix wear and tear — a result of the harsh and polluted conditions London had been under for most of the Tower’s existence.

More recently, Hopton Wood stone, hewn from rock in Wirksworth, near Matlock, was used in the current restoration.

This hard-wearing material has been used in on the stairs, floors and Belfry — the large room which houses Big Ben itself — helping to safeguard the space for years to come.

Now that the project is back to working at full capacity, both Parliament and it’s teams across the East Midlands are delighted to gradually unwrap the tower over the coming months, returning the iconic landmark to its former glory and ensuring the bells of Big Ben can be heard once more.

Parliament has developed a new series of talks with some of the contractors involved in the mammoth task of repairing and restoring the historic Elizabeth Tower.

For more information, visit Parliament’s website.