The largest clock in London is not situated on the Clock Tower, but on Shell Mex House on The Strand.
London’s largest clock
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The bells
Big Ben is the biggest four-faced, chiming clock in the world. The real name of the tower, housing the clock, is ‘Clock Tower’. Big Ben is the nickname of the main bell, formally known as the Great Bell, housed within the tower.
Marble Arch
Marble Arch was originally the entrance to Buckingham Palace, but was never used. There is a tiny office inside it, which used to be used as a police station.
Marble Arch may be on the move again. Transport for London is looking at the option to move the arch away from its traffic island to improve traffic flows at this busy junction. If approved, the arch will move over the road to Speakers’ Corner.
Tale of two cities (not the Dickens)
London is formed by two ancient cities – City of London and City of Westminster, both cities forming Greater London.
What’s in a name?
London has gone through a variety of names during its history. At the time of the Roman Invasion, it was called Londinium. In Saxon times, it became known as Lundenwic. And during the time of Alfred the Great, the city was known as Lundenburg.
London
London is the biggest city in Western Europe. People have lived here for more than 5,000 years, but instead of a city, there used to be forests and marshes. Legend says that the city was founded not by the Romans of the 1st century AD, but by Brutus the Trojan, around 1070 BC, about 1,000 years before the Roman invasion. Brutus was the great-grandson of Aeneas, a Trojan prince and one of the few survivors after the Greeks destroyed Troy.
