The clock tower known as Big Ben, which soars over London’s Houses of Parliament, is perhaps Britain’s most famous landmark. It is to be renamed Elizabeth Tower to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th year on the throne. ‘I think it is a fitting tribute to the Queen and the service she has given to our country in this jubilee year’, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

There have been celebrations all over the country to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, only the second to be achieved by a British monarch; Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee was celebrated in 1897.

This is not the first time that one of the Palace of Westminster’s towers has been renamed in honour of a queen: in 1860 the west tower was renamed the Victoria Tower after Queen Victoria.

Big Ben holds the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world. The tower was nicknamed Big Ben from the giant 13.5 tonne bell inside, which chimes the famous ‘bongs’ heard around London - and all over the country, thanks to the BBC. The The Victorian Picture Library has a picture of workmen testing the vast bell in 1856 before winching it up to the top of the tower. The clock and its four gilded dials were designed by the architect Augustus Pugin. Each dial bears the Latin inscription ‘Domine salvam fac reginam nostram Victoriam primam’, meaning ‘O Lord, keep safe our queen, Victoria the First’.

The pendulum is 3.9 metres long and beats every 2 seconds. On top of the pendulum is a stack of old penny coins - these can be used to adjust the time of the clock. Adding or removing a coin will change the clock’s speed by 0.4 seconds a day.

The old Palace of Westminster was burnt down in 1834, and the architect Charles Barry was engaged to design the new building. He asked Augustus Pugin to design the clock tower, which he did in his characteristic Gothic Revival style. Pugin was to write: ‘I never worked so hard in my life for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all the designs for finishing his bell tower & it is beautiful.’ The tower is over 96 metres high; anyone lucky enough to explore the inside of the tower will have to climb 334 stone stairs to reach the top!

Back in 1886, the world’s smallest dog was a black and tan terrier called Tiny - you can see a picture of him in the Victorian Picture Library. This is how a Victorian children’s Christmas annual described him:

‘Tiny was less than four inches long, and could comfortably curl up and take a nap in a glass tumbler. An ordinary finger-ring was large enough for his collar; and when he sat up, a baby’s hand would almost have made a broad and safe resting-place for him.

‘Of course Tiny was of no account against a rat. Indeed, a hearty self-respecting mouse would have stood its ground against the little fellow. But if Tiny had not strength, he did have courage, and would bark as lustily as his little lungs would let him at the biggest rat that ever lived - when the rat was dead.

‘To tell the whole truth, Tiny was remarkable and he was famous, but he was not very happy. He shivered most of the time, even though he was usually hidden in warm wraps. Of course he caught cold easily, and then, oh dear! how pitifully he did sneeze!’

Tiny was an exceptionally small member of the breed which we call today the English Toy Terrier (Black and Tan). This breed was developed from the Old English Black and Tan Terrier, which in its turn is descended from the ratting terriers which were so popular from the 18th century onwards, both as working and sporting dogs. Some ratting terriers became famous as champions of the rat pits - a terrier called Billy was probably the most famous for his speed in killing rats. You can see a picture of him, too, in the Victorian Picture Library.

What about more recent small dogs? Record-holder candidates in the 21st century include two chihuahuas: Lulu, four inches long, and Heaven Sent Brandy, 6 inches. A minute Maltese Terrier called Scooter was only 3 inches high when he died aged six months. But so far no dog appears to have been smaller than Sylvia, a Teacup Yorkshire Terrier, who was measured in 1945: she was just 2.5 inches tall and 3.5 inches long.

We've just supplied the period line illustrations for the 320-page book for the BBC based on the TV series 'Britain's First Photo Album', presented by John Sergeant, and being broadcast in March. The 10-programme series was created for The Francis Frith Collection and charts the achievements of the Victorian photographer Francis Frith, as he travelled round the country photographing its cities, towns and villages.Find out more by visiting www.francisfrith.com/