Colegiul National “Mihai Eminescu”

Petrosani

London

-landmarks-

Professor: Maier Anca

Student: Cebuc Anneliese
2020
 Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. London Eye
3. Tower of London
4. Big Ben
5. Tower Bridge
 Introduction

London is the capital and largest city

of England and the United Kingdom. The city
stands on the River Thames in the south-east of
England, at the head of its 50-mile
(80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea.
London has been a major settlement for two
millennia.

London is one of the world's most

important global cities and has been called
the world's most powerful, most
desirable, most influential, most visited, most
expensive, sustainable, most investment-
friendly, and most-popular-for-work city. It
exerts a considerable impact upon the arts,
commerce, education, entertainment, fashion,
finance, healthcare, media, professional
services, research and development, tourism
and transportation.

In 2019, London had the highest

number of ultra high-net-worth individuals in
Europe. London's universities form the largest
concentration of higher education institutes in
Europe, and London is home to highly ranked
institutions such as Imperial College
London in natural and applied sciences, and
the London School of Economics in social
sciences. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted three modern Summer Olympic
Games.

London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site
comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, and St Margaret's Church; and the
historic settlement in Greenwich where the Royal Observatory, Greenwich defines the Prime
Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time. Other landmarks include Buckingham Palace,
the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square and The
Shard. London has numerous museums, galleries, libraries and sporting events. These include
the British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, British
Library and West End theatres. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network
in the world.
 The London Eye

The London Eye, or the Millennium

Wheel, is a cantilevered observation
wheel on the South Bank of the River
Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest
cantilevered observation wheel, and is the
most popular paid tourist attraction in the
United Kingdom with over 3 million visitors
annually, and has made many appearances
in popular culture.

The London Eye adjoins the western

end of Jubilee Gardens (previously the site
of the former Dome of Discovery), on the
South Bank of the River Thames
between Westminster
Bridge and Hungerford
Bridge beside County Hall, in the London Borough of Lambeth.

In March 2020 the London Eye celebrated its 20th birthday by turning its pods into
experiences in partnership with its sponsor lastminute.com. The special experiences included a pub
in a capsule, a west end theatre pod and a garden party with flower arrangements to represent the
eight London Royal parks.

The London Eye was formally

opened by the Prime Minister Tony Blair on
31 December 1999, but did not open to the
paying public until 9 March 2000 because of
a capsule clutch problem.
The London Eye was originally
intended as a temporary attraction, with a
five-year lease. In December 2001,
operators submitted an application
to Lambeth Council to give the London Eye
permanent status, and the application was
granted in July 2002.
On 5 June 2008 it was announced
that 30 million people had ridden the London Eye since it opened.
 Tower of London

The story of the Tower of London:

When William the Conqueror built a mighty stone tower at the centre of his London fortress
in the 1070s, defeated Londoners must have looked on in awe. Now nearly 1000 years later, the
Tower still has the capacity to fascinate and horrify.
As protector of the Crown Jewels, home of the Yeomen Warders and its legendary
guardians, the pampered ravens, the Tower now attracts over three million visitors a year. Here, the
Ceremony of the Keys and other traditions live on, as do the ghost stories and terrible tales of torture
and execution.
But the Tower also has a richer and more complex history, having been home to a wide
array of institutions including the Royal Mint, the Royal Armouries and even a zoo.

Fortress. Palace. Prison.

As the most secure castle in the
land, the Tower guarded royal possessions
and even the royal family in times of war
and rebellion.

But for 500 years monarchs also

used the Tower as a surprisingly luxurious
palace.

Throughout history, the Tower has

also been a visible symbol of awe and fear.
Kings and queens imprisoned their rivals and enemies within its walls. The stories of prisoners, rich
and poor, still haunt the Tower.

The Conqueror’s fortress

In the 1070s, William the Conqueror, fresh from his
victory but nervous of rebellion, began to build a massive
stone fortress in London to defend and proclaim his royal
power. Nothing like it had ever been seen in England before.

William intended his mighty castle keep not only to

dominate the skyline, but also the hearts and minds of the
defeated Londoners.
 The Tower took around 20 years to build. Masons arrived from Normandy, bringing with
them stone from Caen in France. Most of the actual labour was provided by Englishmen.

Kings and queens used the Tower in times of trouble to protect their possessions and
themselves. Arms and armour were made, tested and stored here until the 1800s.

The Tower also  controlled the supply of the nation’s money.  All coins of the realm were
made at the Tower Mint from the reign of Edward I until 1810. Kings and queens also locked away
their valuables and jewels at the Tower and even today, the Crown Jewels are protected by a
garrison of soldiers.

Legends and ghosts

The Tower has been a visitor
attraction since the 18th century, but
numbers of tourists increased
dramatically in the 1800s. Visitors were
fascinated by the stories of England’s
turbulent and sometimes gruesome
history.

Stories of ghosts haunt the

Tower. Anne Boleyn is said to stalk the
site of her execution on Tower Green.

Arbella Stuart, the cousin of

Elizabeth I who starved while under
arrest for marrying without royal
permission, is said to frequent the
Queen’s House still.

Two smaller ghosts are thought

to be the ‘princes in the Tower’, and the
Yeomen Warders even tell a chilling
tale of a huge bear who occasionally
appears to frighten visitors to death.

One of the most famous

legends of the Tower surrounds the
ravens.  The story goes that should the
ravens leave the Tower, both it and the
kingdom will fall.

Seven ravens live at the Tower today and are cared for by a dedicated Yeoman Warder
known as the Ravenmaster.

The Tower of London is still one the world’s leading tourist attractions and a world heritage
site, attracting visitors from all over the world.

And when the gates are locked and all the visitors have gone, the Tower embraces a thriving
community within its walls. The Tower of London is still home to the Yeomen Warders and their
families, the Resident Governor, and a garrison of soldiers. 
 Big Ben

Big Ben, tower clock, famous for its accuracy and for

its massive bell. Strictly speaking, the name refers to only
the great hour bell, which weighs 15.1 tons (13.7 metric
tons), but it is commonly associated with the whole clock
tower at the northern end of the Houses of Parliament, in
the London borough of Westminster.

The tower itself was formally known as St.

Stephen’s Tower until 2012, when it was renamed Elizabeth
Tower on the occasion of Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee,
celebrating 60 years on the British throne. The hands of the
clock are 9 and 14 feet (2.7 and 4.3 metres) long,
respectively, and the clock tower rises about 320 feet (97.5
metres). Originally in coordination with the Royal Greenwich
Observatory, the chimes of Big Ben have been broadcast—
with a few interruptions—since 1924 as a daily time signal by
the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

The clock was designed by Edmund Beckett

Denison (later Sir Edmund Beckett and Lord Grimthorpe) in
association with Sir George Airy (then astronomer royal) and
the clockmaker Edward Dent. Denison’s principal
contribution was a novel gravity escapement that imparted unprecedented accuracy to the clock. In
a pendulum clock an escape wheel is allowed to rotate through the pitch of one tooth for each
double swing of the pendulum and to transmit an impulse to the pendulum to keep it swinging. An
ideal escapement would transmit the impulse without interfering with the free swing, and the impulse
should be as uniform as possible. The double three-legged gravity escapement designed by
Denison for Big Ben achieves the second of these but not the first. Big Ben is wound three times a
week, and the winding takes over an hour.

Big Ben is accurate to

within two seconds per week. The
pendulum is adjusted by adding
pennies made before the
decimalization of the United
Kingdom’s currency in 1971 to the
weight. Each penny causes Big Ben
to gain 0.4 second per day.

In 1852 Dent won the

commission to make the great
clock, but he died before completing
the project, and it was subsequently
finished by his son, Frederick Dent.
The clock and bell were installed together in 1859. The nickname is said by some historians to stand
for Sir Benjamin Hall, the commissioner of works.

The first casting of the bell had failed; the second casting was made by George Mears of the
Whitechapel Bell Foundry and was pulled to the tower by a wagon team of 16 horses. Shortly after it
was installed, it too developed a crack and was kept out of service until its repair in 1862. Denison
blamed the crack on the foundry, which sued him for libel (the case was settled out of court). For two
years during World War I, Big Ben’s bell was silent to prevent enemy aircraft from using it to hone in
on the Houses of Parliament, and during World War II its clock was not illuminated for the same
reason.

In 1934 and 1956 the bell was restored and repaired. Maintenance work was performed on
the clock in 2007. On August 21, 2017, Big Ben stopped chiming, as the tower was undergoing a
four-year restoration project during which the bell was scheduled to ring only for special events,
notably New Year’s Eve and Remembrance Sunday.
 Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge has a long and fascinating history. Built between 1886 and 1894, the Bridge
has spent more than a century as London's defining landmark, an icon of London and the United
Kingdom.

Discover the historical events that led to the Bridge's construction, how Tower Bridge was
built, and how it lifts the road for river traffic as well as some of the key and quirky events from the
Bridge's history.

Looking to find out more about the Bridge? Discover more of Tower Bridge's history when
you see inside Tower Bridge.

A huge challenge faced the City of London Corporation - how to build a bridge downstream
from London Bridge without disrupting river traffic activities. To generate ideas, the Special Bridge or
Subway Committee was formed in 1876, and a public competition was launched to find a design for
the new crossing.

Over 50 designs were submitted to the Committee for consideration, some of which are on
display at Tower Bridge. It wasn't until October 1884 however, that Sir Horace Jones, the City
Architect, in collaboration with John Wolfe Barry, offered the chosen design for Tower Bridge as a
solution.

It took eight years, five major contractors and the relentless labour of 432 construction
workers each day to build Tower Bridge.

Two massive piers were sunk into the riverbed to support the construction, and over 11,000
tons of steel provided the framework for the Towers and Walkways. This framework was clad in
Cornish Granite and Portland Stone to protect the underlying steelwork and to give the Bridge a
more pleasing appearance.

steam to power the

enormous pumping engines. The
energy created was stored in six
massive accumulators, meaning
that as soon as power was
required to lift the Bridge, it was
always readily available. The
accumulators fed the driving
engines, which drove the bascules
up and down. Despite the
complexity of the system, the
bascules only took about a minute
to raise to their maximum angle of
86 degrees.

Today, the bascules are

still operated by hydraulic power,
but since 1976 they have been driven by oil and electricity rather than steam. The original pumping
engines, accumulators and boilers are now on display within Tower Bridge’s Engine Rooms.