Originally this chapel was thought to be used for burials but over the years it has had a number of uses including the Speaker’s dining room. St Mary Undercroft Chapel - This chapel was built underneath St Stephen’s and is slightly below ground level.In 1548 it became the home of the debating chamber for the House of Commons and after the fire in 1834 it was reconfigured by Charles Barry to form the now public entranceway into Parliament. St Stephen’s Chapel and Cloisters - The building of the chapel started in 1292 taking over 70 years to be fully completed and it was in fact the second St Stephen’s chapel to sit on the site.Jewel Tower - Built in 1365 it was initially built to store the King’s jewels, gold and silver but was transferred over to be used by the House of Lords from 1621 to the mid-nineteenth century.Due to the age of the hall there have been many repairs and alterations over the years. Westminster Hall - Built in 1097 by William II where, at the time, it was the largest hall in England (if not Europe) covering 1547 square metres and walls 2 metres thick.Since the fire in 1834 there are only a few of the medieval parts of the Palace still remaining. There are approximately 1100 rooms within the Palace, connected by around 4.8km of passageways. The modern Palace of Westminster building is nearly 300metres long and covers 8 acres along with a surrounding 4 acres of gardens and lawns. The Palace of Westminster today is classed as a Grade I listed building and also a UNESCO World Heritage site. The new building was built in a perpendicular Gothic style and the building work started in 1840 and finished in the 1870s.ĭuring World War II the Palace was damaged in fourteen different air raids which caused considerable damage to the building, with the House of Commons chamber being completely destroyed in May 1941. A competition was held to design a new building and this was won by Christopher Barry, helped by Augustus Pugin. The rebuilding of the Palace following this devastation led to the building that we now see today. Guy Fawkes was tried, convicted of treason, and sentenced to death in Old Palace Yard within the grounds of the Palace of Westminster.ġ834 saw a fire at the Palace that destroyed the majority of the building - those parts that survived this were Westminster Hall, Undercroft Chapel, The Cloisters and Chapter House of St. In 1605 the infamous Guy Fawkes tried, and failed, to blow up the Houses of Parliament in protest of laws against Catholicism. It was first recorded that Parliament was opened here in 1259 in the Painted Chamber (the King’s private apartment).Īfter a fire in the Palace of Whitehall, Henry VIII moved Parliament to it’s permanent home at the Palace of Westminster in 1512. There was gradual development of the Palace by subsequent monarchs with the additions of other parts of the building. Over the next few hundred years there was a gradual move of financial aspects by the Monarchy from Winchester to Westminster with both the Treasury and the Exchequer moving sites. In 1097, Westminster Hall was built by King William II, the son of William the Conqueror, which is one of the few early features that is still present today. In the 10th Century this was changed into a Benedictine Monastery and then in 1016 a Royal residence was built by the Danish, Norwegian and English King, Canute (Cnut). This was known as the West Minster (or ‘West Monastery’) where the current name was derived. There have been buildings of significance on the site of the Palace of Westminster since the 8th century when there was a Saxon church in situ. The Houses are based in the Palace of Westminster which is the recognisable building that people know and part of which is the very famous tower that people refer to as ‘ Big Ben’.Ī Brief History of The Houses of Parliament This is called a bicameral parliament where each house keeps the other in check and this allows laws to be made, debates to be had, allocation of funding and taxes and ensure the workings of the government are monitored. The Houses of Parliament are the two houses that make up the UK parliamentary system, namely the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Located in the Palace of Westminster, the home of the UK’s government is one of London’s most recognisable landmarks and stands directly on the bank of the river Thames. Do you think you could make decisions that shape a whole nation?Ī visit to the Houses of Parliament, and the very famous and immediately recognisable clock tower standing alongside it, is the place to go to see how this happens in the UK.
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