Big Ben To Chime Again After Five-year Restoration Project - BBC News

Home » When Will Big Ben Be Finished » Big Ben To Chime Again After Five-year Restoration Project - BBC News

Maybe your like

Skip to content
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Health
  • Culture
  • Arts
  • Travel
  • Earth
  • Audio
  • Video
  • Live
HomeNewsSportBusinessTechnologyHealthCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveWeatherNewslettersBig Ben to chime again after five-year restoration project27 April 2021ShareSaveShareSave
Big Ben has been largely out of action since 2017

Big Ben will chime hourly again from early next year as work on Parliament's Elizabeth Tower nears an end.

The refurbishment was originally expected to be finished this year, but was held up due to the pandemic.

The costs of the project have already spiralled to at least £80m.

The famous London attraction has been largely silent since 2017, although it has been reconnected for significant occasions such as the UK's departure from the EU and Remembrance Day.

The Great Clock, which the bell is part of, has been dismantled and repaired as part of the renovation project.

The 13.7-tonne Great Bell has emitted its trademark bongs since it was first sounded in 1859, although there have been some breaks for repairs over the years. The current restoration has seen it out of action for the longest time in its history.

  • In Pictures: Big Ben turns 160
  • What it's like to work in a crumbling Parliament
  • Radio Four's nationwide hunt for stand-in bongs

A number of milestones on the project are expected to be reached over the next 12 months, with the installation of the restored clock mechanism beginning this summer.

UK Parliament authorities said: "Following years of painstaking conservation work, the clock hands, now resplendent in their original Victorian colour scheme, will be added to the clock dials, with the restored mechanism returning to the [Elizabeth] Tower later in the year."

JUSTIN TALLIS The Elizabeth Tower with scaffoldingJUSTIN TALLIS
The Elizabeth Tower is being restored, with costs reaching £80m

The statement added: "Early next year the bells, including Big Ben, will be reconnected to the original Victorian clock mechanism and will ring out across Westminster once again.

"Then the gantry, which has protected the Palace of Westminster throughout the works and supported the complex scaffolding structure, will be removed before the site is fully cleared ahead of summer next year."

Cost of repairing Big Ben's tower rises by £18.6m

£50k per bong: But for whom would the bell toll?

Palace of WestminsterCity of WestminsterBig BenRelated

Parliament refurb chair defends potential £40bn costs

Tories call for rethink of Parliament revamp

'Lorry drivers need a safe, secure place to park'

More from the BBC2 days agoCGI of Oxford Street shows pedestrians walking on green pavement with trees and artwork above

Oxford Street to ban traffic by 'end of summer'

Work can start straight away to pedestrianise part of the shopping street, the mayor of London says.

2 days ago5 days agoThe bronze statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, London, is shown defaced with bright red spray paint. Large slogans, including "FREE PALESTINE," are visible across the front of the monument's coat. The red paint also covers the statue's hands and walking stick.

Man denies charge over Churchill statue graffiti

Caspar San Giorgio, 38, denies a charge of criminal damage at Westminster Magistrate's court.

5 days ago7 days agoCCTV image showing a cylindrical object propped upright against the glass doors of a building entrance, with a small green lighter lying nearby, as a man in a dark coat walks away.

Asylum seeker guilty of dynamite hoax at MI5 HQ

Julian Valente Pereira, 32, staged the protest at Thames House a day after his asylum bid failed.

7 days ago7 days agoWinston Churchill statue seen from the left front side, looking up at the statue, covered in red paint. Buildings in the background

Palestine Action arrest as Churchill statue defaced

The Westminster statue of the former prime minister is vandalised with slogans daubed in red paint.

7 days ago19 Feb 2026A luxury car drives along a shopping street in central London. There is a row of cars behind it. Pedestrians are walking on the pavement on both sides of the street.

Call for congestion charges on evening rush hour

Clean Cities says the number of cars coming into central London dramatically increases after 18:00.

19 Feb 2026

Tag » When Will Big Ben Be Finished