The original tower was destroyed in a terrible fire just four days after it was built in 1894, and the rebuilt Heavilon Hall tower's clock and four bells were new features in the gleaming engineering structure, according to 'A University of Tradition: The Spirit of Purdue,' a book compiled by the Purdue Reamer Club.Ĭast in Troy, N.Y., the bells weigh 1,200, 600, 300 and 200 pounds. The bells date to 1895, when they were installed in the newly rebuilt Heavilon Hall tower. The four bells in the Purdue Bell tower have a history that stretches back more than 100 years - to the days before Neil Armstrong, Amelia Earhart or even the dawn of the 20th century. (Purdue University photo/Mark Simons) Download Photo They were then placed in the new Purdue Bell Tower. Because a bell tower was not part of the new building’s design, the bells remained in storage about 1995. Heavilon Hall was demolished in 1956, when a new building bearing the same name rose.

The Westminster Quarters is now the most popular tune for church bells and can be heard all over the country.The four bells that chime in the Purdue Bell Tower date to 1895, when they were installed in the newly rebuilt Heavilon Hall tower. Where else can you hear the Westminster chimes? With the clock face recently emerging from the tower’s scaffolding which has encased the famous landmark for the last few years, Londoners were excited to hear Big Ben’s bell chime again as a new year began in 2022.Īt midnight on New Year's Day, the bell was struck 12 times using a temporary drive mechanism, which replicates the chime created by the original Victorian mechanism which drops a hammer on the bell ever 4.5 seconds.īig Ben and the four quarter bells are set to resume sounding the famous daily ‘Westminster Quarters’ melody and resonant bongs using the original mechanism in Spring 2022. Why did Big Ben ‘bong’ on New Year’s Day?

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