Palace of Westminster
The site of the Palace of Westminster has been a center of power since the reign of Cnut, who ruled England from 1016 to 1035. Edward the Confessor built a palace and the first Westminster Abbey on this ground during his time as king. The oldest surviving part of the complex is Westminster Hall, which dates back to the reign of William II. This great hall was erected in 1097 for William Rufus and stood as the largest hall in Europe at that time. It served various functions over the centuries, including judicial purposes from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries. When a joint address is given to the two chambers of the UK Parliament, the hall is sometimes used as the venue. It also hosted coronation banquets until the nineteenth century and has been the usual venue for state funerals since the twentieth century. The hall features a hammerbeam roof commissioned for Richard II in 1393 and built by the royal carpenter Hugh Herland. This roof measures 20.7 by 73.2 metres and remains the largest clearspan medieval roof in England. The oak timbers came from woods in South-East England and were assembled near Farnham, Surrey. At the same time, the rest of the hall was remodelled by the master mason Henry Yevele, who refaced the walls and added fifteen life-size statues of kings placed in niches. Only six of these statues remain today, but otherwise the hall remains largely as Richard and his master builder left it.
On the 16th of October 1834, a fire broke out in the palace after an overheated stove set fire to the House of Lords Chamber. Both Houses of Parliament were destroyed along with most of the other buildings in the palace complex. Westminster Hall was saved thanks to firefighting efforts and a change in the direction of the wind. The Jewel Tower and the undercroft, cloisters, and chapter house of St Stephen's Chapel were the only other parts of the palace to survive. William IV offered the almost-completed Buckingham Palace to Parliament, hoping to dispose of a residence he disliked. However, the building was considered unsuitable for parliamentary use and the gift was rejected. In 1835, following that year's General Election, the King permitted Parliament to make plans for its permanent accommodation. Each house created a committee and a Perpendicular Gothic Revival design by the architect Charles Barry was chosen. Barry was inexperienced with Gothic and relied heavily on Augustus Pugin to design details. The Lords Chamber was completed in 1847, and the Commons Chamber in 1852. Although most of the work had been carried out by 1860, construction was not finished until a decade afterwards.
Charles Barry toured Britain in 1839 looking at quarries and buildings with a committee which included two leading geologists and a stonecarver. They selected Anston, a sand-coloured magnesian limestone quarried in the villages of Anston, South Yorkshire, and Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire. Two quarries were chosen from a list of 102, with the majority of the stone coming from the former. A crucial consideration was transport, achieved on water via the Chesterfield Canal, the North Sea and the rivers Trent and Thames. Furthermore, Anston was cheaper and could be supplied in blocks up to four feet thick. It lent itself to elaborate carving. However, the stone soon began to decay owing to pollution and the poor quality of some of the stone used. Although such defects were clear as early as 1849, nothing was done for the remainder of the 19th century. During the 1910s, it became clear that some of the stonework had to be replaced. In 1928, it was deemed necessary to use Clipsham stone, a honey-coloured limestone from Rutland, to replace the decayed Anston. The project began in the 1930s but was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War and was completed only during the 1950s. By the 1960s, pollution had again begun to take its toll.
During the Second World War, the palace was hit by bombs on fourteen separate occasions. A bomb that fell on the 26th of September 1940 lifted the statue of Richard the Lionheart from its pedestal and bent its sword. This image was used as a symbol of the strength of democracy which would bend but not break under attack. The worst raid took place in the night of 10, the 11th of May 1941 when the palace took at least twelve hits. Three people were killed including two policemen and Resident Superintendent of the House of Lords Edward Elliott. The Commons Chamber and the roof of Westminster Hall were both set alight. As the firefighters could not save both, the hall was prioritised and saved while the chamber was destroyed. The Lords Chamber and Clock Tower were damaged in the same raid. The Commons Chamber was rebuilt in a simplified style after the war being completed in 1950. Newsreel footage from the 30th of October 1950 shows the reopening of the new structure. Extensive repairs had to be made after the Second World War including rebuilding the destroyed Commons chamber. Despite further conservation work having been carried out since, the palace is in urgent need of major repairs.
The Palace of Westminster has three main towers with the largest and tallest being the Victoria Tower occupying the south-western corner. Upon its completion in 1858 it was the tallest secular building in the world. At the base of the tower is the Sovereign's Entrance used by the monarch whenever entering the palace to open Parliament or for other state occasions. The high archway is richly decorated with sculptures including statues of Saints George Andrew and Patrick and Queen Victoria. The main body of the tower houses the Parliamentary Archives on steel shelves spread over 12 floors. The archives include the master copies of all Acts of Parliament since 1497 and important manuscripts such as the original Bill of Rights. On top of the cast-iron pyramidal roof is a flagstaff from which flies the Royal Standard when the Sovereign is present in the palace. At the north end of the palace is the Elizabeth Tower commonly known by the nickname Big Ben. It measures 96 metres and is only slightly shorter than the Victoria Tower but much slimmer. It was called the Clock Tower until 2012 when it was renamed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The tower houses the Great Clock which uses the original mechanism built by Edward John Dent to designs by amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison.
The Palace of Westminster contains over 1,100 rooms 100 staircases and miles of passageways spread over four floors. Offices dining rooms and bars occupy the ground floor while the first or principal floor houses the main rooms including the debating chambers lobbies and libraries. The Central Lobby lies directly below the Central Tower and forms a busy crossroads between the House of Lords to the south and the House of Commons to the north. Its location halfway between the two debating chambers has led constitutional theorist Erskine May to describe the Lobby as the political centre of the British Empire. The hall also serves as the theatre of the Speaker's Procession which passes from here on its way to the Commons Chamber before every sitting of the House. The Chamber of the House of Lords is located in the southern part of the palace and measures 45 metres long. The benches in the Chamber as well as other furnishings in the Lords' side of the palace are coloured red. In front of the Throne is the Woolsack an armless red cushion stuffed with wool representing the historical importance of the wool trade. The Chamber of the House of Commons is at the northern end of the palace and was opened in 1950 after the Victorian chamber had been destroyed in 1941. The Chamber measures 23 metres wide and is plainer in style than the Lords Chamber.
The failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was a conspiracy among a group of Roman Catholic gentry to re-establish Catholicism in England by assassinating the Protestant King James I. They placed large quantities of gunpowder beneath the House of Lords which one of the conspirators Guy Fawkes would detonate during the State Opening of Parliament on the 5th of November 1605. If successful the explosion would have destroyed the palace killing the King his family and most of the aristocracy. However the plot was discovered and most of the conspirators were either arrested or killed while trying to evade capture. The survivors were tortured in the Tower of London tried for high treason in Westminster Hall convicted and gruesomely executed by hanging drawing and quartering. Since then the cellars of the palace have been searched by the Yeomen of the Guard before every State Opening of Parliament. On the 11th of May 1812 Spencer Perceval was shot and killed by a Liverpool merchant adventurer John Bellingham while in the lobby of the House of Commons. Perceval remains the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated. On the 24th of January 1885 Fenian bombs struck the New Palace of Westminster along with the Tower of London. A second explosion followed almost immediately in the Commons Chamber causing great damage especially to its south end but no injuries as it was empty at the time.
As the need for office space in the palace increased Parliament acquired office space in the nearby Norman Shaw Building in 1975 and in the custom-built Portcullis House completed in 2000. This increase has enabled all Members of Parliament to have their own office facilities. The palace was designated a Grade I listed building in 1970 and a World Heritage Site in 1987. The fabric of the building is in urgent need of restoration. In January 2018 the House of Commons voted for both houses to vacate the palace to allow for a complete refurbishment of the building which will take at least six years and start no sooner than 2025. In September 2022 the Restoration and Renewal Client Board a joint committee of the House of Lords and the House of Commons was formed to oversee the necessary works. There have been four fires on the Palace of Westminster site during 2019 and eight in 2018. In 2022 the body of the late Queen Elizabeth was left inside the hall for people to pay their respects. A man decided to jump the barriers and pull away the flag draped over the coffin. He was detained and taken away by the police and officials.
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Common questions
When was the Palace of Westminster first used as a center of power?
The site has been a center of power since the reign of Cnut, who ruled England from 1016 to 1035. Edward the Confessor built a palace and the first Westminster Abbey on this ground during his time as king.
What happened to the Palace of Westminster on the 16th of October 1834?
A fire broke out in the palace after an overheated stove set fire to the House of Lords Chamber. Both Houses of Parliament were destroyed along with most of the other buildings in the palace complex.
Which stone was used to replace the decayed Anston limestone at the Palace of Westminster?
Clipsham stone, a honey-coloured limestone from Rutland, was used to replace the decayed Anston starting in 1928. The project began in the 1930s but was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War and completed only during the 1950s.
How many times did bombs hit the Palace of Westminster during the Second World War?
The palace was hit by bombs on fourteen separate occasions during the war. The worst raid took place in the night of 10, the 11th of May 1941 when the palace took at least twelve hits.
When was the Elizabeth Tower renamed Big Ben?
The tower was called the Clock Tower until 2012 when it was renamed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. It measures 96 metres and is only slightly shorter than the Victoria Tower but much slimmer.