The New Murrey and Blue blog

Big Ben. Great Tom

When did Thorney Island, Westminster, cease to be an island….?

May 29, 2024

buildings, law, religion

bells, Big Ben. Great Tom, fishing, outer courtyard, River Tyburn, St. Edward the Confessor, Thorney Island, Westminster, William II

My research sometimes turns up something that makes me smile. This time it happened because I want to know exactly when the two branches of the River Tyburn that enter the Thames at Westminster (and thus formed Thorney Island) were actually covered over. The abbey and palace at Westminster once stood upon this island, of…
Great Tom came before Big Ben….!

Jul 27, 2021

buildings, religion

bells, Big Ben. Great Tom, Edward I, Edward III, Elizabeth Tower, Middlesex Guildhall, St. Paul’s, Temple Bar, towers, Westminster Hall, William III

Now that it seems probable/possible that “Big Ben” will not be fully restored and ringing again until 2022, perhaps it is….ahem….timely to remember that he was not the first such huge bell, nor was the Elizabeth Tower the first bell tower to be erected close to Westminster Palace and Hall. There was a predecessor,…