Big Ben clock face cleaning. This clock, the Great Clock of Westminster, is part of the 96-metre-tall clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, London, UK. This tower and clock houses the bell named 'Big Ben', and was formally named the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The tower opened in 1859. Its clock, famed for its reliability, was constructed in the 1850s to a design by horologist Edmund Denison. It has four dials, each 7 metres in diameter. The clock hands and framework are iron, with the dials made of glass, with gilded surrounds. Photographed on 19 August 2014.