Let's Bong With Ben!

Big Ben's bong would be a fitting end to three years of Remain mischief

• MADELINE GRANT
  

Throughout British history, bell-ringing has always heralded both celebration and moments of high drama. Church bells were used to warn of incoming troops and imminent floods, while the eerie sound of bells chiming back-to-front, from low to high, ushered in rebellions such as the Pilgrimage of Grace. According to medieval superstition, bells could even ring themselves, like those of Canterbury Cathedral which reportedly knelled spontaneously when four knights murdered Thomas Becket in 1170 at vespers.