View allAll Photos Tagged ClockTower
The University of Auckland Clocktower... very important place for a lowly arts student like me. I'm just about to leave Albert Park and wander over to find out where my exam is being held.
The clock tower at Lowman Green, Tiverton (in the county of Devon, UK) was built in 1908. It is seen here in some shots dappled with autumn sunlight through nearby trees at the bridge over the River Lowman.
Michelin just came out with their 2019 star ratings for New York City. I've photographed a lot of these places (not all) - Either privately or through publications like Eater and The New York Times.
I'm posting a bunch of images I have in my archives. You can't go wrong with a meal at any of these places I think. These are all one star recipients.
Clocktower that I pass by everyday when I go to work. The clouds made a nice background for the tower.
As part of our glorious land…
I work as a teacher in one of the more prestigious junior colleges in Singapore and this was taken a fine morning. The iPhone is capable of truly gorgeous pictures. Title is the first line of our college school song.
Clean photo.
Exterior Decoration
The outer walls of the Elizabeth Tower feature decorative stonework, including carved orbs, crowns, crosses, and gargoyles.
The Ayrton Light
Above the belfry is the Ayrton Light. It is 254 feet (76 m) above the ground and measures 9 feet (2.74 m) in diameter and 12 feet (3.66 m) in height.
The Ayrton Light is lit when either House of Parliament continues to sit after dark. Its installation was first suggested by Acton Smee Ayrton MP (1816-86), who, as First Commissioner of Works between 1869 and 1873, oversaw the final stages of the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster. However, several years of experimentation followed before the light that remains to this day was installed by John R. Wigham (1829-1906) of the Dublin gas engineering firm Edmonson’s & Co. which supplied lights to English and Irish lighthouses.
The proposal for a light was reported in The Times on June 7, 1871, under the headline “Notice to Truant MPs”, but little progress was made at first. The initial idea of using limelight, which employs a gas jet to heat a cylinder of quicklime to such a high temperature that it becomes incandescent, was rejected in favor of a more powerful magneto-electric light. However, in response to a question in the House of Commons the following year, Ayrton stated that “to erect and maintain the light would involve an expense larger, perhaps, then the circumstances would justify.” Tests to establish the best form of lighting undertaken in April 1873. MPs made no objection to an experimental light which was installed soon afterwards. This provisional light was retained until a permanent gas-powered light was finally installed in 1885.
Sixty-eight gas burners whose jets merged into a single great flame illuminated the new gas light and a workman had to mount the stairs to the top of the clock tower every evening at sunset to light the flame, although it could be extinguished by means of a valve in the Engineers’ Control Room.
Early engravings show that this light shone only to the west, in the direction of Buckingham Palace—it has been suggested that Queen Victoria, who liked to keep abreast of parliamentary business, could use it to tell when she might expect Ministers to start arriving after the House had finished sitting. In 1892, Wigham suggested that lenses be used to “spread the light round the whole of London” and, later that year, installed a new lighthouse-style light, which was 9.5 feet (2.9 m) higher than the previous one and shone in all directions. It was subsequently suggested that a different colored light could shine when a division or vote was taking place, but this was thought to costly. Since 1903, the Ayrton Light has used electric lighting.
The surrounding streets had been lit by gas lamps sincerely 19th century, but even by the 1880s the level of night-time lighting was very low. Given the general absence of tall buildings in the vicinity at that time, when it first operated the Ayrton Light—like the illuminated tiles of the clock itself—must have been an impressive sight.
In the Press
The octagonal Ayrton Light was a novelty at the time it was installed. The Illustrated London News of August 16, 1873 reported: “Few scenes can be conceived more singular or more beautiful…As an instance of the power of this marvelous light, it may be observed that newspapers have been read by its rays Trafalgar-square…It is possible that all our streets a few years hence may be nightly based in the glorious light of electricity”.
Relighting the Ayrton Light in 1945
The Ayrton Light remained unlit throughout the Second World War. It was lit once more as war drew to a close on April 24, 1945, when the House of Commons journal records:
“Mr Speaker addressed the house, as followeth: May I be allowed to make a slight interruption in the proceedings? In peace-time the lantern light above big Ben always shone out after sunset in order to show that the House of Commons was at work. For five years, seven months and twenty-three days this light has now been extinguished. When I press this switch our lantern light will shine once more. In so doing, I pray that, with God’s blessing, this light will shine henceforth not only as an outward and visible sign that the Parliament of a free people is assembled in free debate, but also, that it may shine as a beacon of sure hope in a sadly torn and distracted world. I now turn on our lantern light.”
The Roof
The roof is made of cast-iron tiles and decorated with gold leaf.
Top of Spire
The top of the spire is decorated with an orb and cross above a shower of golden flowers.
Er, slightly overdid the photoshop. But after spending an hour on it, I'd thought I'd upload it anyway.