Everything about The Palace Of Westminster totally explained
The
Palace of Westminster, also known as the
Houses of Parliament or
Westminster Palace, in
London, is where the two Houses of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom (the
House of Lords and the
House of Commons) meet. The palace lies on the north bank of the
River Thames in the
London borough of the
City of Westminster, close to other government buildings in
Whitehall.
The palace's layout is intricate: its existing buildings contain nearly 1,200 rooms, 100 staircases and of corridors. Although the building mainly dates from the 19th century, remaining elements of the original historic buildings include
Westminster Hall, used nowadays for major public ceremonial events such as
lyings in state, and the
Jewel Tower.
Control of the Palace of Westminster and its precincts was for centuries exercised by the Queen's representative, the
Lord Great Chamberlain. By agreement with
the Crown, control passed to the two Houses in 1965. Certain ceremonial rooms continue to be controlled by the Lord Great Chamberlain.
After a fire in 1834, the present Houses of Parliament were built over the next 30 years. They were the work of the architect
Sir Charles Barry (1795–1860) and his assistant
Augustus Welby Pugin (1812–52). The design incorporated Westminster Hall and the remains of
St Stephen's Chapel.
History
The Palace of Westminster site was strategically important during the
Middle Ages, as it was located on the banks of the
River Thames. Buildings have occupied the site since at least
Saxon times. Known in medieval times as
Thorney Island, the site may have been first-used for a royal residence by
Canute the Great (reigned 1016–1035).
St Edward the Confessor, the penultimate Saxon monarch of England, built a royal palace on Thorney Island just west of the
City of London at about the same time as he built
Westminster Abbey (1045–1050). Thorney Island and the surrounding area soon became known as Westminster (a contraction of the words
West Monastery). After the
Norman Conquest in 1066,
King William I established himself at the
Tower of London, but later moved to Westminster. Neither the buildings used by the Saxons nor those used by William I survive. The oldest existing part of the Palace (Westminster Hall) dates from the reign of William I's successor,
King William II.
The Palace of Westminster was the monarch's principal residence in the late Medieval period. The predecessor of Parliament, the
Curia Regis (Royal Council), met in Westminster Hall (although it followed the King when he moved to other palaces). The
Model Parliament, the first official Parliament of England, met in the Palace in 1295; almost all subsequent Parliaments have met there.
The
Jewel Tower was built in approximately 1365 to house the treasures of
Edward III.
Westminster remained the monarch's chief London residence until a fire destroyed part of the structure in 1512. In 1530
King Henry VIII acquired
York Palace from
Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, a powerful minister who had lost the King's favour. Renaming it the Palace of Whitehall, Henry VIII used it as his principal residence. Although Westminster officially remained a royal palace, it was used by the two Houses of Parliament and as a law court.
Because it was originally a royal residence, the Palace included no purpose-built chambers for the two Houses. Important state ceremonies, including the State Opening of Parliament, were held in the
Painted Chamber; the House of Lords usually met in the White Chamber. The House of Commons, however, didn't have a chamber of its own, and sometimes held its debates in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. The Commons acquired a permanent home in the Palace—
St Stephen's Chapel, a former royal chapel—only during the reign of Henry VIII's successor,
King Edward VI. The Chantries Act 1547 (passed as a part of the
Protestant Reformation) dissolved the religious order of the Canons of St Stephen's, among other institutions; thus, the Chapel became available for the Commons' use. Alterations were made to St Stephen's Chapel for the convenience of the lower House.
On
16 October 1834, most of the Palace was
destroyed by fire. Only Westminster Hall, the Jewel Tower, the crypt of St Stephen's Chapel and the
cloisters survived. A Royal Commission was appointed to study the rebuilding of the Palace and a heated public debate over the proposed styles ensued. The
neo-Classical design, similar to that of the
White House and
Congress in the
United States, was popular at the time, but had connotations of revolution and
republicanism, whereas
Gothic design embodied conservative values. The Commission announced in June 1835 that "the style of the buildings would be either Gothic or
Elizabethan".
In 1836, after studying 97 rival proposals, the Royal Commission chose
Charles Barry's plan for a Gothic-style palace. The
foundation stone was laid in 1840; the Lords Chamber was completed in 1847, and the Commons Chamber in 1852 (at which point Barry received a
knighthood). Although most of the work had been carried out by 1860, construction wasn't finished until a decade afterwards. Barry (whose own architectural style was more classical than Gothic) relied heavily on
Augustus Pugin for the sumptuous and distinctive Gothic interiors, including wallpapers, carvings, stained glass and furnishings, like the royal thrones and canopies.
During the
Second World War, the Palace of Westminster was hit fourteen times by bombs. The worst of these was on
10 May 1941, when the Commons Chamber was destroyed and three people were killed. The chamber was re-built under the architect
Giles Gilbert Scott; the work was completed in 1950.
As the need for office space in the Palace increased, Parliament acquired office space in the nearby
Norman Shaw Building in 1975, and more recently in the custom-built
Portcullis House, completed in 2000. This increase has now allowed all MPs to have their own office facilities.
Stonework
The
stonework of the building was originally Anston, a sand-coloured magnesian
limestone quarried in the village of
Anston in
South Yorkshire. The stone, however, soon began to decay due 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, however, 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 due to the
Second World War, and completed only during the 1950s. By the 1960s pollution had once again begun to take its toll. A stone conservation and restoration programme to the external elevations and towers began in 1981, and ended in 1994. The House Authorities have since been undertaking the external restoration of the many inner courtyards and this is due to continue until approximately 2010.
Towers
The two red lines on the floor of the House of Commons are The roof was probably originally supported by pillars but, during the reign of
King Richard II, was replaced by a
hammerbeam roof designed by
Henry Yevele and
Hugh Herland. Westminster Hall is one of the largest halls in Europe and has the largest clearspan medieval roof in England, measuring 20.7 by 73.2 metres (68 by 240 ft). Accounts record the large number of wagons and barges which delivered the
jointed timbers to Westminster for assembly.
Westminster Hall has served numerous functions. It was primarily used for judicial purposes, housing three of the most important courts in the land: the
Court of King's Bench, the
Court of Common Pleas and the
Court of Chancery. In 1873, these courts were amalgamated into the
High Court of Justice, which continued to meet in Westminster Hall until it moved to the
Royal Courts of Justice in 1882. In addition to regular courts, Westminster Hall also housed important state trials, including
impeachment trials and the trial of King Charles I at the end of the
English Civil War.
Westminster Hall has also served ceremonial functions. From the twelfth century to the nineteenth,
coronation banquets honouring new monarchs were held here. The last coronation banquet was that of
King George IV, held in 1821; his successor,
William IV, abandoned the idea because he deemed it too expensive. The Hall has been used for
lyings-in-state during
state and ceremonial funerals. Such an honour is usually reserved for the Sovereign and for their consorts; the only non-royals to receive it in the twentieth century were
Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (1914) and
Sir Winston Churchill (1965). The most recent lying-in-state was that of
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002.
The two Houses have presented ceremonial Addresses to the Crown in Westminster Hall on important public occasions. For example, Addresses were presented at
Elizabeth II's
Silver Jubilee (1977) and
Golden Jubilee (2002), the 300th anniversary of the
Glorious Revolution (1988), and the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the
Second World War (1995).
Under reforms made in 1999, the House of Commons uses a specially converted room next to Westminster Hall (not the main hall) as an additional debating chamber. (Usually, however, the room is spoken of as a part of Westminster Hall.) The room is shaped like an elongated horseshoe; it stands in contrast with the main Chamber, in which the benches are placed opposite each other. This pattern is meant to reflect the non-partisan nature of the debates held in Westminster Hall. Westminster Hall sittings occur thrice each week; controversial matters are not usually discussed.
Other rooms
Imperial State Crown. Paintings by
William Dyce in the Robing Room depict scenes from the legend of
King Arthur. Immediately next to the Robing Room is the Royal Gallery, which is sometimes used by foreign dignitaries who wish to
address both Houses. The walls are decorated by two enormous paintings by
Daniel Maclise: "The Death of Nelson" (depicting
Lord Nelson's demise at the
Battle of Trafalgar) and "The Meeting of Wellington and Blücher" (showing the
Duke of Wellington meeting
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at the
Battle of Waterloo).
To the immediate south of the Lords Chamber is the Prince's Chamber, a small used by Members of the Lords. The Prince's Chamber is decorated with paintings of members of the
Tudor dynasty, and features a marble statue of
Queen Victoria. To the immediate north of the Lords Chamber is the Peers' Lobby, where Lords informally discuss or negotiate matters during sittings of the House.
The centrepiece of the Palace of Westminster is the octagonal Central Lobby, which lies immediately beyond the Peers' Lobby. The lobby, which lies directly below the Central Tower, is adorned with statues of statesmen and with
mosaics representing the United Kingdom's constituent nations' patron saints:
St George for England,
St Andrew for Scotland,
St David for Wales and
St Patrick for Ireland (these pre-date the secession of the
Irish Free State; St Patrick now represents Northern Ireland). Constituents may meet their Members of Parliament in the Central Lobby. Beyond the Central Lobby, next to the Commons Chamber, lies the
Members' Lobby, in which Members of Parliament hold discussions or negotiations. The Members' Lobby contains statues of several former Prime Ministers, including
David Lloyd George,
Winston Churchill,
Clement Attlee and
Margaret Thatcher.
There are two suites of libraries on the Principal Floor, overlooking the river, for the
House of Lords Library and
House of Commons Library.
The Palace of Westminster also includes state apartments for the presiding officers of the two Houses. The official residence of the Speaker stands at the northern end of the Palace; the Lord Chancellor's apartments are at the southern end. Each day, the Speaker and Lord Speaker take part in formal processions from their apartments to their respective Chambers.
There are 19 bars and restaurants in the Palace of Westminster, many of which never close while the house is sitting. There is a shooting range and a gymnasium, and even a hair salon. Parliament also has a souvenirs shop, where items on sale range from House of Commons key-rings and china to House of Commons Champagne.
Security
The
Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod oversees security for the House of Lords, and the
Serjeant at Arms does the same for the House of Commons. These officers, however, have primarily ceremonial roles outside the actual chambers of their respective Houses. Security is the responsibility of the
Palace of Westminster Division of the
Metropolitan Police, the police force for the
Greater London area. Tradition still dictates that only the Serjeant at Arms may enter the Commons chamber armed.
With rising concern about the possibility of a lorry full of explosives being driven into the building, a series of concrete blocks was placed in the roadway in 2003. On the river, an exclusion zone extending 70 metres (77 yd) from the bank exists, which no vessels are allowed to enter.
Despite recent security breaches, members of the public continue to have access to the
Strangers' Gallery (public gallery) in the House of Commons. Visitors pass through
metal detectors and their possessions are scanned. Police from the Palace of Westminster Division of the Metropolitan Police, supported by some armed police from the
Diplomatic Protection Group, are always on duty in and around the Palace.
Since
1 August 2005, under a provision of the
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 it has been illegal to hold a protest, without the prior permission of the Metropolitan Police, within a designated area extending one kilometre (0.6 mi) around the Palace.
Incidents
Probably the most famous attempt to breach the security of the Palace of Westminster was the
Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The plot was a conspiracy among some
Roman Catholic gentry to place large quantities of gunpowder beneath the Palace and detonate it during the State Opening of Parliament. If executed, the explosion would have destroyed the palace, killing the Protestant
King James I, his family, and most of the aristocracy. The plot was discovered when a Roman Catholic nobleman,
William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, received an anonymous letter warning him not to attend the State Opening. The authorities with Peter Heywood of
Heywood, Greater Manchester, conducted a search of the Palace and discovered the gunpowder, as well as one of the conspirators,
Guy Fawkes. The conspirators were later tried for high treason in Westminster Hall, and were
hanged, drawn and quartered. Since 1605, the
Yeomen of the Guard have conducted a ceremonial search of the Palace's cellars prior to each State Opening of Parliament, although today officers from the Metropolitan Police join the search.
The previous Palace of Westminster was also the site of a prime ministerial assassination in 1812. While in the lobby of the House of Commons, on his way to a parliamentary inquiry,
Spencer Perceval was shot and killed by
John Bellingham. Perceval remains the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated.
On
17 June 1974, a 20-pound (9 kg) bomb planted by the
Provisional IRA exploded in Westminster Hall.
In 1979,
Airey Neave, a prominent Conservative politician, was killed by a
car bomb as he drove out of the Palace's new car park. Both the
Irish National Liberation Army and the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for the murder; security forces believe the former was responsible.
The Palace has also been the site of a number of acts of politically motivated "
direct action". In 1970 a canister of
tear gas was thrown into the Chamber of the House of Commons to protest against conditions in Northern Ireland. In 1978
Yana Mintoff and another dissident threw
manure. Concern about such attacks and a possible chemical or biological attack led to the construction of a glass screen across the Strangers' Gallery in early 2004.
The new barrier doesn't cover the side galleries, which are sometimes termed the "distinguished strangers' gallery", and in May 2004 protesters from
Fathers 4 Justice attacked Prime Minister Tony Blair with flour bombs from this part gallery, after obtaining admission by bidding for a place in the visitors' gallery in a charity auction. Subsequently, rules on admmission to the visitor's gallery were changed and now if individuals wish to sit in the visitors' galleries, they must first obtain a written pass from a member certifying that that individual is personally known to them. In September of the same year, five protesters opposed to the proposed ban on
fox hunting disrupted the proceedings of the House of Commons by running into the Chamber.
Rules and traditions
Eating, drinking and smoking
The Palace has accumulated many rules and traditions over the centuries.
Smoking hasn't been allowed in the chambers of the House of Lords and the Commons since the 17th century. As a result, Members may take
snuff instead and the doorkeepers still keep a
snuff-box for this purpose. Despite persistent media rumours, it hasn't been possible to smoke anywhere inside the Palace since 2005. Members may not eat or drink in the chamber; the exception to this rule is the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, who may have an alcoholic drink while delivering the
Budget statement.
Dress code
Hats must not be worn unless a
point of order is being raised, and members may not wear military decorations or insignia. Members are not allowed to have their hands in their pockets—
Andrew Robathan was heckled by opposing MPs for doing this on
19 December 1994.
Swords may not be worn in the Palace, and each MP has a loop of ribbon in the cloakroom for storing weapons.
Forms of address
Members may not refer to each other by name and use either "my honourable friend" (if a member of the same party) or "the honourable lady/gentleman" (for members from other parties); alternately, "the honourable member for [theconstituency]" is used. Members of the
Privy Council are referred to as "the right honourable".
In the House of Lords, members are referred to as "the noble lord/lady", or "my noble friend".
Other traditions
Dogs are not allowed in the Commons, with the exception of
guide dogs for the
blind.
Applause isn't normally allowed in the Lords and Commons. Some notable exceptions to this were when
Robin Cook gave his resignation speech in 2003, and when
Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared for the last time at
Prime Minister's Questions.
It is a convention that MPs don't discuss the
Sovereign nor use the name of the monarch as a point of debate without prior permission from the Speaker. This comes from 19th-century constitutionalist
Erskine May, who said, "the irregular use of the Queen's name to influence a decision of the House is unconstitutional in principle and inconsistent with the independence of Parliament... Any attempt to use her name in debate to influence the judgement of Parliament is immediately checked and censured."
Vincent Cable was reprimanded for breaking this convention during a session of Prime Minister's Questions in 2008.
No one is allowed to die within the Palace of Westminster, because, as it's a
royal palace, any person who dies there would eligible for a royal funeral. Most deaths on the premises are said to have taken place at
St. Thomas' Hospital, the nearest hospital to the palace.
Culture and tourism
The exterior of the Palace of Westminster—especially the Clock Tower—is recognised world-wide, and is one of the most visited tourist attractions in London. The
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) classifies the Palace of Westminster, along with neighbouring
Westminster Abbey and
St. Margaret's, as a
World Heritage Site. It is also a
Grade I listed building. There is no casual access to the interior, but it may be seen in a number of ways:
- Viewing debates from the public galleries of the House of Commons or the House of Lords: UK residents may obtain tickets in advance from their MP. It is also possible for both UK residents and overseas visitors to queue for admission on the day, but capacity is limited and there's no guarantee of admission. Only a very small part of the Palace's interior may be seen. Either House may exclude "strangers" if it desires to sit in private.
- Tours during Parliamentary sessions: UK residents may apply to their MP or a peer for a place on a guided tour of Parliament while it's in session. British educational institutions may also arrange a tour through their MP. Overseas visitors may only tour Parliament during the summer recess.
- Summer opening: tours are available during a two-month period during the summer when Parliament isn't sitting. These tours are open to both UK residents and overseas visitors.
- Television Viewing: live broadcasts of Parliamentary sessions can be viewed on BBC Parliament; recorded footage is shown when Parliament isn't in session. The sessions are also occasionally rebroadcast in the United States via C-SPAN.
- Touring the Clock Tower: Currently, only UK Residents can tour the Clock Tower, by arranging a tour through their local MP.
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