Big Ben is seeking a new mechanic to join the timekeeping trio that keeps the world’s most famous clock ticking
By Wed, Aug 19, 2020
Big Ben’s base is seeking a new clock-watcher to look after the world’s most famous clock.
The House of Commons is hiring a multiskilled clock mechanic for £30,000 ($39,533) a year to maintain all of the clocks on the U.K.’s parliamentary estate.
The successful candidate will join two others who have been working with Big Ben for over a decade to make up a timekeeping trio.
The three will maintain Big Ben’s iconic Great Clock, one of the world’s most recognizable tourist attractions, as well as more than 2,000 other clocks across the grounds.
The job, based in the Palace of Westminster, where Britain’s lawmakers meet, will include rebuilding, repairing and winding clocks – including turret clocks.
“Big Ben” is the nickname of the Great Clock’s Great Bell, and is often used to refer to both the clock and tower.
But only those with a level-three qualification in art of making clocks and watches (horology) or membership of the British Horological Institute (BHI) will be considered for the role looking after it.
The BHI says on its website that it can take two or more years to complete the necessary qualification, so chancers are out of luck as applications are due by September 30.
Compensation for the role is £29,867, and the lucky applicant’s office is a Unesco World Heritage site, along with the Giza pyramids, the Galápagos Islands, and Yellowstone National Park.
Read: U.K. politicians join half-mile queues to vote as Parliament returns to in-person sessions
The Elizabeth Tower of Big Ben is currently covered in scaffolding because of renovations that began in 2017 and were set to last four years, but were paused in March because of coronavirus.
Since its last bongs in August 2017, Big Ben has been silent barring exceptions for New Year’s Eve and Remembrance Sunday.
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