TOP TEN attractions of

London
Westminster Abbey
St. Paul's Cathedral

Piccadilly Circus
Tow

Houses of Parliament
er o
f Lon

Trafalgar Square
don
c e
a la
Big ben P
am
London Eye gh
c kin
Tower Bridge Bu
 Big Ben
Saint Stephen's Tower
What is Big Ben?
• Big Ben is one of the most
famous landmarks in the world.
It is the clock tower. The name
Big Ben is used to describe the
clock tower that is part of the
Palace of Westminster.
• Big Ben is situated on the banks
of the River Thames on the
north side of the Houses of
Parliament in Westminster,
London.
• Even after the nearby House of
Commons was destroyed by bombing
during World War II, the clock kept on
chiming. The clock's mechanism,
designed by Edmund Beckett Denison,
has a remarkable accuracy.
• At the base of each clock face is a Latin
inscription, in gilt letters. It reads
“Domine salvam fac Reginam nostrum
Victoriam Primam”
"O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the
First"

How heavy is Big Ben bell?

• The Big Ben bell has the following
measurements: 9'-0" diameter, 7'-6"
high, and weighs 13 tons 10 cwts 3 qtrs
15lbs (13,760 Kg)

When can we hear the bell ring?

• Big Ben chimes every 15 minutes and
the sound can be heard for a radius of
Tower Bridge
 •Where does the Tower Bridge stand ?
Tower Bridge has stood over
the River Thames in London since 1894 and
is one of the finest, most recognisable
bridges in the World.
•Why is the Tower Bridge special?
Tower Bridge is the only Thames bridge
which can be raised.

The middle section can be raised to

permit large vessels to pass the
Tower Bridge. Engines raise the
bridge sections, which weigh about
1000 tons each, in just over a
minute. It used to be raised about 50
times a day, but nowadays it is only
raised 4 to 5 times a week.
 Bridge History
Plans for the Tower Bridge were
devised around 1876 when the
east of London became
extremely crowded and a
bridge across the Thames in
that area of the city seemed
necessary.

Five contractors and nearly 450

workers were involved in the
construction of the 265 meter
long bridge. It took 11,000 tons
of steel to build the framework.
 London Eye
Millennium wheel

A modern but already very popular tourist attraction, a giant observation

wheel located in the Jubilee Gardens on the South Bank, between
Westminster and Hungerford Bridges.

The wheel was constructed in sections which were

floated up the river Thames on barges and assembled
lying flat on pontoons.

Quick facts about London Eye:

• The total weight of steel in the Eye is 1,700 tonnes.
• The London Eye can carry 800 passengers at a time on
a thirty-minute ride. From its highest point of 450 feet,
it promises views of up to 25 miles.
• The London Eye stands 135 metres (443 feet) high.
The observation wheel turns slow
enough for people to embark
while it is moving. A complete turn
takes about thirty minutes. Thanks
to the construction of the glass
capsules on the outer side of the
rim, the passengers have a great
360 degree view over London.

(The London Eye as seen from Westminster Bridge

with the London Aquarium and County Hall to the right)

capsules
 Houses of Parliament
Palace of Westminster

The Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of

Westminster, is the seat of the two parliamentary
houses of the United Kingdom: the House of Lords and
the House of Commons.
From the middle of the 11th century until 1512 the Palace of Westminster was the royal
home to the Kings and Queens of England.

(View from the London Eye )

 The Palace of Westminster features THREE main
towers
• Big Ben
The most famous part of Charles Barry's design is the
elegant clock tower. A light at the top of the tower is
illuminated when Parliament is sitting at night.

• Victoria Tower

- Opposite the Big Ben ,built in 1860.

- The tower contains the records of both
the House of Lords and the House of Commons since
1497.
- During the parliamentary year the Union Flag is
hoisted on top of the 98 meter-tall tower.
• Westminster Hall

-The oldest hall of the Houses of Parliament , dating back

to 1097.
-The large hammer beam roof was built in the fourteenth
century and replaced the original roof which was supported
by two rows of pillars.
Piccadilly Circus
Facts:
• A busy square in the
heart of London.
• It is famous for the
fountain installed
here at the end of
the nineteenth
century and for the
neon advertising
that turned the • There is seminude
square into a statue on top of the
miniature version of fountain depicts
Times Square. named Eros ,god of
• The Circus lies at the love and beauty.
intersection of five • The statue is made of
main roads: Regent aluminum.
Street, Shaftesbury • London's first
Avenue, Piccadilly illuminated
Street, Covent billboards were
Street and installed here in
Haymarket. 1895.
The creation of
Shaftesbury Avenue in
1885 turned the plaza
into a busy traffic
junction. This made
Piccadilly Circus attractive
for advertisers.

(billboards at the Circus)

(The Circus at night)

Tower of London
What is the Tower of London?

For over 900 years, the Tower of London has been standing guard over the capital. The

Tower of London was originally built by William the Conqueror, following his successful

invasion of England in 1066.

London has played different roles in British History: a Royal Palace, fortress, prison,

place of execution, arsenal, Royal Mint, Royal Zoo and Jewel house.
Today the Tower of London is best known for its Crown Jewels (the collection of

Crown Jewels that has been on display here since the seventeenth century, during the reign of
Charles II, now is museum), but it used to be notorious for the many political opponents of
the kings that were locked, tortured and killed in the Tower. The Tower was also a royal
residence.
In the centre of the Tower of London is the famous White Tower.
It is the tallest building in London at 27.4 meters (90ft). Its walls are 4.6 meter
wide.

The building has four domed turrets at each corner. Three of them have a square
shape, the other is round, due to its spiral staircase. The round turret was long
used as an observatory.
 Other Towers
• When two defensive walls were built around the White Tower. The inner
wall had thirteen towers and the outer wall had another six. The towers
were mostly used to imprison political opponents.
• Some of the most famous prisoners locked in the Tower were two princes,
the sons of king Edward IV. The princes were never seen again and were
probably killed by guards.

(St Thomas Tower)

(Bloody Tower)

The St. Thomas Tower is located close to the Bloody Tower. Here, prisoners were brought into
the fortress by boat through the Traitor's gate.
 Beauchamp Tower

Tower Green

(Important prisoners were locked in here)

Byward Tower
Bell Tower

The main entrance of the Tower of London

Thomas More and Queen Elisabeth I was confined here
Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters)
Dressed in historic clothes, they not only guard the tower, but also give guided tours
of the fortress. One of the about forty Yeoman Warders is known as the Ravenmaster,
responsible for the ravens that have been living here for centuries.

Legend has it that the Tower and the kingdom will fall if the ravens leave. Hence King
Charles II placed the birds under royal protection and the wings of the ravens are
clipped to prevent them from flying away.
Buckingham Palace
• Buckingham Palace was originally a grand house built by the Dukes of Buckingham for his wife.
George IV began transforming it into a palace in 1826.
• It is the Queen's official and main royal London home. It has been the official London residence
of Britain's monarchy since 1837. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live there.

(One of the two traffic gates)

• It is used also for the administrative work for the monarchy.

• The Palace has around 600 rooms, including 19 State rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 78
bathrooms, 92 offices, a cinema and a swimming pool. It also has its own post office and police
station.
• About 400 people work at the Palace, including domestic servants, chefs, footmen, cleaners,
plumbers, gardeners, chauffeurs, electricians, and two people who look after the 300 clocks.
Who guards the palace? What do they wear?
Five regiments of Foot Guards guard the Palace. They wear red jackets and
tall, furry hats called bearskins.

A familiar sight at Buckingham Palace is the Changing of the Guard ceremony

that takes place at 11 o’clock in the forecourt each morning.
 Queen Victoria Memorial
Right in front of the
building is the Queen
Victoria Memorial,
designed by Sir Aston
Webb and built in
1911 in honor of
Queen Victoria, who
reigned for almost
sixty-four
years.
Trafalgar Square
• The Square is named in honour of the British victory,
led by Admiral Lord Nelson, at the Battle of Trafalgar
in 1805.
• Trafalgar Square was designed by Sir Charles Barry.
(he was also responsible for the Houses of Parliament)
It was constructed in the 1840s.

• The column was built between 1841 and 1843. On top of the column
stands a five and a halve (18ft) tall statue of Lord Nelson. At the base of
the column are four huge lions modeled. They were added later, in 1868.
 Statues
a statue of
Charles
Napier, a
military
leader, in the
south-west
corner.

the equestrian statue of George V, in the north-east

statue of
King Charles
On the I, in the
western middle of a
side, the small traffic
statue of circle just
Henry south of
Havelock, Nelson's
another Column.
military (the oldest
leader. equestrian
statue in
London)
• On the north side of Trafalgar Square is the National Gallery.

(home of an impressive collection of

paintings-works from some of the
world's most famous painters,
including Rubens, Vermeer, van
Gogh, Titian, Leonardo da Vinci,
Renoir and Claude Monet.)

• At the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square

is the St. Martin-in-the-Fields parish church.
It is one of the most famous churches in
London
St Paul's Cathedral
 Facts about St Paul’s Cathedral

• Located within the City of London on Ludgate Hill, the City’s

highest point.
• Was built between 1675 and 1711 by Sir Christopher Wren.
• St Paul's Cathedral seen today is the fourth. It was destroyed
3times.
• The cathedral’s crypt is the largest in Western Europe and
extends the entire length of the building. There are over 200
monuments and memorials in the crypt.
• The dome of St Paul's Cathedral is the second biggest dome in
the world, after St Peter's in Rome.
Cathedral Dome
• The dome reaches a height of
111 meters (366 ft). On top
of the dome is a large lantern
with a weight of 850 ton.

• Requires 560 steps to lead to

three galleries of the dome.
The first gallery, the
Whispering Gallery, is
renowned for its acoustics.
The second gallery, the Stone
Gallery, is situated at a height
of 53 meters (174 ft) on the
outside of the dome. On top
of the dome, at a height of
85 meters (279 ft), is the
Golden Gallery, which
encircles the lantern's base.
 Westminster Abbey
(The Collegiate Church of St Peter)
RELIGION and
HERITAGE
IN BRITAIN
• Just to the west of the Palace of
Westminster. It is one of the
oldest buildings in London and
one of the most important
religious centres in the country.
• The Abbey was built by Edward
the Confessor.
• Every King and Queen has been
crowned in Westminster Abbey
since William the Conqueror in
1066.
• Many kings and Queens and
famous people are buried or
commemorated at Westminster Stone carvings above the west door
Abbey. (Charles Dickens, Charles
Darwin, David Livingstone, Sir
Isaac Newton, William Pitt,..)
The key religious movements
and changes in Britain.
The roles of Church of England
play.
Famous hictorical and religious
heritage sites in Britain.
THE KEY RRLIGOIUS
MOVEMENTS
AND CHANGES
IN BRITAIN
Immigration and demographic change has led to religious
diversity. Some religious groups have higher birth rates
than others. And increasing life expectancy means that
older generations, who are more religious, are practising
religion for longer – while their children are less likely to
practise. ‘Mixed’ marriages are also more common.

People are more likely to say that they aren’t particularly

religious – ‘just spiritual generally’ – and if they do practise,
it is less likely to involve going to church.
People are also increasingly see truths in many belief
systems and to sample them accordingly.
And a rising number of people neither believe, practise,
nor belong to any religion.
 MOVEMENTS
There has also been change within faith traditions
themselves. New forms of Christianity are more common,
such as Pentecostalism, and the ‘New Church’ movement.
With ‘Reverse Mission’, religious ministers increasingly
come to Britain from other countries.
Islam in Britain is experiencing a great deal of change and
vitality as the children of South Asian immigrants have
grown up, often choosing to define themselves in terms of
religious identity rather than ethnicity. About half of British
Muslims are aged under 25.
In addition, New Religious Movements appear to have
grown in number. Reliable data on these changes can help
us understand and explain what such changes mean, why
they have occurred, and how extensively
 THE
ROLES
OF
THE
CHUR
CH OF
ENGL
AND
PLAY.

The Church of England is the officially

established Christian church in England and the mother church of the
worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the
tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment
principally to the mission to England by Saint Augustine of
Canterbury in AD 597
Catholic and Reformed:

Catholic in that it views itself as a part of

the universal church of Jesus Christ in
unbroken continuity with the early
apostolic church. This is expressed in its
emphasis on the teachings of the early
Church Fathers, as formalised in the
Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian
creeds.

Reformed in that it has been shaped by

some of the doctrinal principles of the
16th century Protestant Reformation, in
particular in the Thirty-Nine Articles and
the Book of Common Prayer
 Church of England

Independence 1534 (from the Roman

Catholic Church)
Supreme Governor Queen Elizabeth II
Primate Justin Welby, Archbishop of
Canterbury
Polity Episcopal
Headquarters Church House
Great Smith Street
London SW1P 3AZ
England, United Kingdom

Territory England
Isle of Man · Channel Islands
Gibraltar · Continental Europe

Language English
Members 27 million baptised
members(2010)[1][2]
Website www.churchofengland.org
 Logo of Church Urban Fund

Church Urban Fund

The Church of England set up the Church Urban Fund in the 1980s to
tackle poverty and deprivation. They see poverty as trapping
individuals and communities with some people in urgent need. This
leads to dependency, homelessness, hunger, isolation, low
income, mental health problems, social exclusion, and violence. They
feel poverty reduces confidence, reduces life expectancy people born
in poor conditions have difficulty escaping
Child poverty
In parts of Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle two thirds of babies are born to poverty
and have poorer life chances, also life expectancy 15 years lower than babies born in
most fortunate communities. South Shore, Blackpool has lowest life expectancy at 66
years for men.

The deep-rooted unfairness in our society is highlighted by these stark statistics.

Children being born in this country, just a few miles apart, couldn't witness a more wildly
differing start to life. In child poverty terms, we live in one of the most unequal countries
in the western world. We want people to understand where their own community sits
alongside neighbouring communities. The disparity is often shocking but it's crucial that,
through greater awareness, people from all backgrounds come together to think about
what could be done to support those born into poverty.
Many prominent people in the Church of England have spoken out against poverty and
welfare cuts in the United Kingdom. 27 Anglican bishop are among 43 Christian leaders
who signed a letter that urge David Cameron to make sure people have enough to eat.
We often hear talk of hard choices. Surely few can be harder than that faced by the
tens of thousands of older people who must 'heat or eat' each winter, harder than
those faced by families whose wages have stayed flat while food prices have gone
up 30% in just five years. Yet beyond even this we must, as a society, face up to
the fact that over half of people using food banks have been put in that situation by
cutbacks to and failures in the benefit system, whether it be payment delays or
punitive sanctions.

Benefit cuts, failures and "punitive sanctions" force thousands of UK citizens

to use Food banks. The campaign to end hunger considers this "truly
shocking". and calls for a national day of fasting on 4 April 2014.
Famous historical and religious heritage sites
in Britain

Fountains Abbey
Fountains Abbey was once a thriving monastery until Henry VIII’s
Dissolution of the Monasteries. Its ruins are a UNESCO World
Heritage site. (in England)
The Temple Church in Central London is named after the
Knights Templar, who founded it in the twelfth
century. (in England)
A mostly medieval church with an open rafter roof, medieval
screen, and 19th century Gothic cast iron altar rail. There are
18th century monuments on the interior and exterior. (in
Wales)