The Palace of Westminster,

located in London, was initially built

deriving inspiration from the Anglo-

Saxon architecture style. Unfortunately

in 1834, The Great Fire of London had

destroyed most of the palace. In 1835,

Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Welby

Pugin were the architects who had won

a competition that was held to redesign

the palace (Frank, 2008). In the new

Gothic inspired design, a clock tower

was added as a new feature, now known as Elizabeth Tower, which finished

construction in 1859 (New Palace of Westminster, n.d). The palace functions as the

House of Parliament, an art gallery as well as a venue to hold debates (The Palace

of Westminster, 2003).

Riding (2005) had stated that the

Palace of Westminster was redesigned

in the Gothic style due to three reasons.

The first being society’s interest in

European medieval culture, or Gothic

Revival, at the time. By the early 19th

century, it was greatly admired. During

the time, architectural styles were

heavily influenced by politics as well.

During Britain’s war with France, Gothic

was seen as Britain’s national style.

Finally, Westminster was home to British

politics as well as ancient royal and

Christian associations. Due to its links

with Christianity, the Gothic style was

deemed the best as it had religious

resonance similar to British cathedrals.

Figure 1: An architect's rendering of the palace before the fire [Image source: http://blog.londonconnection.com]

Figure 2: The towers and facade of the Palace of Westminster have a similar resemblance to Gothic styled churches [Image source: http://londoneer.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/IGP5419-677x1024.jpg]

 

It can be seen that the 96.3-meter

high Elizabeth Tower has several Gothic

architectural elements, which include a

spire on top of the tower with ornamental

iron cresting and pointed arch windows,

which can be found on the upper portion of

the tower. The use of vertical lines to

symbolize loftiness is a very prominent

feature in gothic styled architecture. The

windows are designed in a tall and narrow

arch shape. Besides that, there were many

decorative traceries, ornamental openwork

patterns, which were applied to this tower

(Victoria and Albert Museum, 2013). The clock face of Elizabeth tower substituted the

rose window, which is found on most gothic buildings.

Elizabeth Tower is

located on a horizontal

axis at the north point of

the palace grounds, facing

Westminster Bridge.

According to the

principal floor plan, it can

be seen that the spaces

have been arranged in a

very balanced manner that

according to Burden

(2000), indicates a

harmonizing arrangement of the elements in a space.

Figure 4: The clock tower ( indicated by the blue box ) is located on a horizontal axis along the palace [ Image source: http://www.photographers-resource.co.uk/ ]

Figure 3: Gothic features on Elizabeth Tower

During the construction of

Elizabeth Tower, no scaffolding

was seen as it was built from the

inside outwards. The materials

were transported by river and

lifted by a winch (UK Parliament,

n.d.). The tower itself is made of

brickwork with stone cladding

and supported by cast iron

girders.

The cast iron clock dials

were also gilded (Earth in

Pictures, n.d.). According to

Watson (n.d.), 312 pieces of pot

opal glass were used in each

clock dial. The Great Bell,

nicknamed Big Ben, itself is

made out of copper alloy or also

known as bronze.  

Figure 5: Construction of the framework for the Elizabeth Tower clock. [ Image source: http://www.parliament.uk/ ]

Figure 6: Transporting and placing the Great Bell in the Elizabeth Tower. [ Image source: http://www.parliament.uk/ ]

Responsible for the gothic revival of the 19th century and with over 150 years

of history, the Palace of Westminster and Elizabeth Tower stands today as one of

London’s most iconic places to visit due to significance in British culture, architecture

as well as administration.

[ 496 words ]

Figure 7: A view of the Palace of Westminster as well as Elizabeth Tower [Image source: www.http://static.guim.co.uk/]

REFERENCES

Burden, E. (2000). Elements of Architectural Design: A Photographic

Sourcebook. Canada: John Wiley & Sons. (Original work published 1934)

Earth in Pictures. (n.d.). Big Ben - pictures, photos, facts and information on

Big Ben (London). Retrieved May 5, 2013, from

http://www.earthinpictures.com/world/great_britain/london/big_ben.html

Frank, M. (2008). A Brief History Of The Great Clock At Westminster Palace.

Retrieved 5 May, 2013,

from www.my-time-machines.net/Big_Ben_paper_web-final.pdf

History of The Parliament, n.d. The New Palace of Westminster [online]

Retrieved 27 April, 2013, from

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/periods/modern/new-palace-

westminster

Riding, C. (2005). Westminster: a new place for a new age. Retrieved 15

April, 2013, from www.bbc.co.uk/history

Style Guide: Gothic Revival - Victoria and Albert Museum. (n.d.) V&A Home Page -

Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 5 May, 2013, from

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/style-guide-gothic-revival/

The Palace of Westminster. (2003). Retrieved 27 April 2013

from www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/g12.pdf  

UK Parliament. (n.d.). Constructing the Elizabeth Tower. Retrieved May 5,

2013, from http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-

ben/building-clock-tower/constructing-clock-tower

Watson, T. (n.d.). Big Ben – All you need to know. Retrieved April 16, 2013

from http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/big-ben-all-you-need-to-know