The Houses of Parliament

The Houses of Parliament, also known in earlier history as The Palace of Westminster, stands on the site where Edward the Confessor had the original palace built in the first half of the eleventh century. In 1547 the royal residence was moved to Whitehall Palace, but the Lords continued to meet at Westminster, while the commons met in St. Stephen's Chapel. Ever since these early times, the Palace of Westminster has been home to the English Parliament.

In 1834, a fire broke out and destroyed much of the old palace; all that remained was the chapel crypt, the Jewel Tower and Westminster Hall. It was Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister, who saved the great hall by arranging for the fire engines to be brought right into the hall and personally supervising the fire fighting operation (HMSO).

The magnificent Gothic Revival masterpiece that stands today was built between 1840 and 1888 with the work of Charles Barry, who designed the buildings to blend with nearby Westminster Abbey. The two imposing towers, well known landmarks in London, are the clock tower, named after it's thirteen-ton bell called Big Ben, and Victoria tower, on whose flag pole the Union Jack flies when parliament is sitting. Much of the Victorian detail of the interior was the work of Barry's assistant, Augustus Pugin.

Entrance to Westminster Hall is permitted only as part of a guided tour, otherwise it can be viewed from St. Stephen's porch above. The hall measuring 240 feet by 60 feet has an impressive hammerbeam roof of oak and is said to be one of the most imposing medieval halls in Europe. In this dignified setting, coronation banquets were held until 1821. The statue of Oliver Cromwell, which stands outside the hall, serves as a reminder that here in 1653 he was sworn in as Lord Protector.

It was also used as England's highest court of law until the nineteenth century and it was here that Guy Fawkes was tried for attempting to blow up the House of Lords on 5th November 1605. After their religion was dealt a heavy blow in the aftermath of the Hampton Court Conference, a group of English Catholic gentlemen conspired against the King, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons (Hibbert 125). On that fateful day in November, a “hired Catholic soldier of fortune, Guy Fawkes, plac[ed] thirty-six barrels of gunpowder in a room underneath the House of Lords. The powder might well have gone off at the beginning of Parliament had not one of the conspirators revealed the plot to the government” (Roberts 332). The conspirators, along with Guy Fawkes, were captured and executed for treason. The famed Gunpowder Plot sparked the annual national celebration of Guy Fawkes Day, in which effigies are burned on Bonfire Night.

The route to the upper and lower houses takes you through the huge wooden doors into St. Stephen's hall. The vaulted ceiling and murals were designed by Barry to replicate the medieval chapel where the Commons met until 1834. From here you are ushered into the well-known octagonal Central Lobby, whose tiled walls are inscribed with Latin mottos. This is the central meeting place where constituents can meet or "lobby" their Members of Parliament. It is from here that you will be shown your direction either to the House of Lords or Commons.

An incendiary bomb destroyed the House of Commons in 1941. A reconstruction of Barry's original design for the house, taken from St. Stephen's chapel, the commons old meeting place, was completed in 1950. The seating arrangement in the house is reminiscent of choir stalls, the members of the cabinet sit on the front benches while opposition senior members sit directly opposite. The distance between the benches marked out on the floor in red lines, is exactly two sword lengths and one foot apart. Members are not allowed to cross these lines, thus ensuring that debates are kept orderly. In the centre of the floor stands the Table of the House, on which the mace is placed at the start of each parliamentary sitting; this is the Speaker's sceptre. The speaker of the house presides over sittings and (attempts) to keep order.

The House of Lords, decorated in scarlet and gold, has all the grandeur one would expect in this chamber. This is where Her Majesty the Queen comes to open Parliament each November. Placed beneath a regal canopy, the gold throne that dominates the house is where the Queen sits to deliver the traditional opening speech. The Lord Chancellor sits opposite, on the famous Woolsack, which is a large scarlet cushion filled with wool, a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages when wool was England's largest export. For me, the Houses of Parliament in all their weighty glory next to the Thames will always remain an iconic and integral part of the British landscape.

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Works Cited

Hibbert, Christopher. The Story of England. London: Phaidon, 1992.

HMSO. 10 Downing Street. http://www.number-10.gov.uk/. Retrieved 8 June 2008 from http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page152.asp.

Roberts, Clayton, and David Roberts. A History Of England: Prehistory to 1714. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998.