The Palate of Westminster ( De luxe hotel off Westminster in English), also indicated under the name of Rooms of the Parliament ( Houses off Parliament ), is the place where sit the House of Commons and the House of Lords of the the United Kingdom. The Palate borders northern bank of the the Thames and is located in the London district of the Cité of Westminster ().

The building was used at the origin as royal residence, but no English monarch or British lived more there since the 16th century. The oldest section of the Palate, Westminster Hall, goes back to the year 1097. However most of the building dates from the 19th century: the old Palate of Westminster, indeed, was almost entirely destroyed by a fire which has occurred the October 16th 1834. The architect responsible for the rebuilding, Sir Charles Barry, registered the new Palate in purest style neogothic, in reference at the time of the Tudors. One of the most famous attractions of the Palate of Westminster east its Tower of the Clock ( Clock Tower ), which shelters Big Ben.

The Palate, immense complex of more than thousand parts, of course contains the rooms of and the House of Commons House of Lords, but also the offices of the parliamentary commissions, the libraries, the halls, the dining rooms, the bars or the gymnasia. It is the place of important official ceremonies, and particularly that of the opening of the parliamentary session (the State Opening off Parliament ) each year. The Palate of Westminster east closely associated in the spirits with the two parliamentary rooms, as sometimes the use of the term Westminster testifies some to indicate the Parliament.

History

Because of its situation privileged at the edge of the the Thames, the Palate of Westminster was of a great strategic importance throughout the Moyen-âge. Buildings occupied this site since at least the Anglo-Saxon period: known then under the name of island of Thorney ( Thorney Island ), the place could have been used for the first time as royal residence at the time of the Danish domination, under Knud Ier Large the (1016 - 1035). The last but one Saxon king of England, Edouard the Confessor, built a royal palace on the island of Thorney, immediately in the west of the London quoted and about at the same time that the Abbaye of Westminster was born (between 1045 and 1050). The island and its surroundings took quickly the name of Westminster , in contraction of the English words West Monastery (“ Monastère of the west ”). Following the invasion Norman of 1066, William the Conqueror settled in the Tour of London, but Westminster preferred to him quickly. There remains today no trace of the buildings which existed at the time of the Anglo-Saxons and Guillaume. The oldest remaining sections of the Palate, Westminster Hall and the Large Hall, date from the reign of the successor of William the Conqueror, the king Guillaume II the Russet-red.

The Palate of Westminster was the main home of the kings d' Angleterre until the end of the medieval era. Many public institutions transfer the day there, at the same time as evolved/moved the nature of the mode. The ancestor of the English Parliament, for example, the Curia Governed (“ the Royal Council ”), met in Westminster Hall, except when it was to follow the king in another palate. As for the Parlement models ( Model Parliament ), the first official Parliament of England, it was convened with the Palate by Edouard Ier in 1295. Since then, and except for rare exceptions, the parliamentary sessions had all place at this place.

Westminster remained the principal London residence of the English kings until a fire destroys part of the building in 1529. In 1530, the king Henri VIII assumed the Palais of York to the detriment of its former owner, the cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a powerful minister fallen in disgrace. Henri renamed the place in Palais of Whitehall, and used it thereafter as main home. Although Westminster remains officially a royal palace, it was consequently used as a seat of the two parliamentary rooms and a court.

Being given its past of royal residence, the Palate of Westminster did not contain any room having vocation to accommodate the two rooms: the official ceremonies such as the opening ceremony of the Parliament were held thus in the Painted Room ( Painted Chamber ), and the House of Lords met in the White Room ( White Chamber ). As for the House of Commons, it did not have any clean room, which sometimes forced it to hold its debates with the Abbaye of Westminster, in the chapter house or the refectory. The Communes obtained a permanent roof only under the successor of Henri VIII, Edouard VI, when one conceded the use of old the to them royal Chapelle of Saint-Etienne. The Chantries Act of 1547, passed within the framework of the Protestant Réforme, had indeed carried out the dissolution of many religious orders such as that of the Canons of Etienne Saint, which made it possible the Communes to find to place itself. Installations were then carried out in the old vault to satisfy the needs for the Lower House.

The October 16th 1834, the major part of the Palate disappeared in smoke at the time of a fire. Only Westminster Hall, the Tower of the Jewels, the crypt of the Saint-Etienne vault and the Cloître S escaped the destruction. A royal commission was indicated in order to study the options offering itself for the rebuilding, and arrived at the conclusion that the new Palate should be rebuilt on the same site in a style either Gothic, or traditional. This alternative was not without causing sharp public debates. The partisans of the classicism advanced that the Gothic Architecture was too raw, or in any case little appropriate to a Parliament. Much however, whose Augustus Pugin, supported that the Gothic represented most authentic Christian architecture , going until comparing by contrast the classicism with the Paganisme of the Rome and the ancient Greece . The Gothic art was regarded in addition as typically national, contrary to the classicism which one associated with the France.

In 1836, after the examination of 97 rival proposals, the royal commission chose the architect Charles Barry and its project of palate in style neogothic. The first stone was posed in 1840, then the House of Lords was completed in 1847 and the House of Commons in 1852, date on which Barry accepted the title of knight. The majority of work were carried out before 1860, but certain elements were not finished before the following decade.

The normal functioning of the Palate of Westminster stopped in 1941, when German bombers destroyed the House of Commons. Sir Gilles Gilbert Scott was designated as new architect, and rebuilt the Lower House while remaining very faithful to the work of Charles Barry. It completed its work in 1950.

Appearance

Sir Charles Barry carried out the new Palate of Westminster in a Gothic style says “perpendicular”, very popular to the 15th century and income with the mode at the 19th century with the Néogothique. Barry itself was actually a traditional architect of formation , but was helped in its work by his/her colleague Augustus Pugin, broken with subtleties of the Gothic. Westminster Hall, built with the 11th century and survivor of the flames, could be integrated harmoniously in the overall vision of Barry. Pugin was however dissatisfied with final work, in particular because of the symmetrical structure wanted by Barry. There announced it in a remark remained famous: “ Of the pure Greek, Mister. Tudor details on a traditional body. ”.

Masonry

The stone used at the beginning for construction, called anstone , was a stone Calcaire and magnesian of color sands, extracted at the village from Anston in the south from the Comté from Yorkshire. The stone, however, very quickly started to be degraded because of the Pollution. Although this defect became notorious as of 1849, nothing was done to cure it during the remainder of the 19th century. It is only during the Années 1910 that the need for replacing part of the stones was essential with obviousness.

In 1928, one had recourse to stone of Clipsham, a calcareous stone of color honey coming from the county of Rutland. The work were begun in the Années 1930 but last being stopped during the Second world war, to be completed only in the Années 1950. As of the Years 1960, however, damage related to pollution reappeared. A programme of conservation and restoration of the stones was initiated to cure it in 1981, and continued until in 1994.

Turns

Current Palais of Westminster includes/understands several turns. Largest and squarest, the Tower Victoria ( Victoria Tower ), is located at the south-western angle of the building and measurement 98,5 meters. She was baptized thus in the honor of the reigning monarch of the time, the Reine Victoria. The tower shelters grafts it House of Lords ( House off Lords' Record Office ), which in spite of its name is used by the two parliamentary rooms. Its top raises the Drapeau of the Palate, which it is about the Royal Standard when the sovereign is present or more generally of the Union Jack . It is indeed with the foot of the Victoria Tower that the official entry of the sovereign in the Palate is located (the Sovereign' S Entrance to the Palace ), used in particular at the time of the opening ceremonies of the Parliament or any other event implying the arrival of the Head of the State.

The Central Tower ( Central Tower ) dominates the medium of the Palate. Its 91,4 meters height makes some smallest of the three principal towers of the monument. Contrary to its neighbors, the Central Tower is surmounted by an arrow located immediately above the Central Hall, of octagonal form.

To listen to the chime of Big Ben

The north-western angle supports most famous of the turns of the Palate of Westminster, the Tower of the Clock ( Clock Tower ) or Holy Turn Stephen ( St Stephen' S Tower ), high 96,3 meters. As its name indicates it, the tower shelters the Large Clock of Westminster ( Great Clock off Westminster ), which has a dial on each of the four sides. The Tower of the Clock also contains the five Cloche S of the Palate, which sounds all the fifteen minutes. Largest and most famous of these bells, officially called the Large Bell of Westminster, is well more known under its nickname of Big Ben. It is about the third heaviest bell of all the the United Kingdom, with a weight of approximately 13,8 ton S. Although the name of Big Ben strictly speaking applies only to the bell, it is current to indicate by this term the whole of the Tower of the Clock.

Arranged gardens and spaces

Some small gardens surround the Palate of Westminster. The Gardens of the Tower Victoria ( Victoria Tower Gardens ), which borders the the Thames in the south of the Palate, act as public park. The Black Rod' S Garden , called thus in reference to the usher of the House of Lords (the Usher Gentleman off the Black Rod ), is closed with the public and is used as private entry. The Court of the Old Palate ( Old De luxe hotel Yard ), vis-a-vis the Palate, is paved and covered by safety with concrete blocks. Other spaces like the Garden Cromwell ( Cromwell Green ) on the front, the Court of the New Palate ( New De luxe hotel Yard ) and the Garden of the Speaker ( Speaker' S Green ) in north all are enclosed and closed with the public.

Interior

The Palate of Westminster counts approximately a thousand of parts, a hundred staircases and 4,8 km of corridors. The whole of the building is organized on three stages: the ground floor shelters offices, dining rooms and bars. It is the first stage which joins together the majority of the principal rooms of the Palate, including two parliamentary rooms, the halls and the libraries. One finds there a prospect architectural monumental because of row in right-hand side line for long series for parts, namely the Room of Dress ( Robing Room ), the Royal Gallery ( Royal Gallery ), the Room of the Prince ( Prince' S Chamber ), the House of Lords, the Hall of the Pars ( Peers' Lobby ), the Central Hall ( Central Lobby ), the Hall of the Deputies ( Members' Lobby ) and finally the House of Commons. The second and the third stage are occupied by the offices of the parliamentary commissions.

Formerly, because of its old function of royal residence, the Palate was officially directed by the Great chamberlain. It was then decided in 1965 that each parliamentary room should be able to ensure the control of its own parts. The Announcer and the Lord Chancelier thus exert their authority in the name of their respective assemblies. The Great chamberlain, however, preserves his influence on certain rooms of ceremony.

The House of Lords

The room accommodating the House of Lords is located in the southern part of the Palate. This part, sumptuously arranged, measurement 24,4 m length for 13,7 m broad. The benches of the Room, just like the other pieces of furniture of the section of the Palate reserved to the Lords, are of red color . The upper part of the room is decorated of stained glasses and six allegorical frescos representing the Religion, the Chevalerie and the Loi.

With an end of the room the royal throne and its platform decorated with Or are. Although the sovereign can in theory assist to with it not to import which audience, it or it moves only for the opening ceremonies of the Parliament. The other members of the royal family present at this ceremony use Chairs of State ( Chairs off State ) placed in the vicinity. In front of the throne is located the Woolsack , simple red cushion filled with Laine on which assied the Lord Chancelier, president of the room. Woolsack of the Judges ( Judges' Woolsack ), a broader red cushion occupied by the Law Lords at the meetings of opening, and the Table of the Room ( Table off the House ), reserved to the clerks, are then a little further.

The members of the assembly sit on red benches distributed in three sides of the room. The benches located at the right-hand side of the Woolsack form the Spiritual Side ( Spiritual Side ), and those of left the Temporal Side ( Temporal Side ). The Lords Spirituels (Archbishop S and bishop S of the Church of England) all are placed on the Spiritual Side. The Lords Temporels (members of the Nobility), on the other hand, are organized according to their political allegiances: the members of the Political party to the capacity line up Spiritual Side, while the representatives of the opposition assoient Temporal Side. Certain pars without political affiliation sit on the benches of the medium of the room, vis-a-vis the Woolsack . They of this fact are called the “ cross-country race-benchers ” (literally “members of Parliament of cross-piece”).

The House of Lords is the place of a big number of official ceremonies, in particular the opening ceremony of the Parliament ( State Opening off Parliament ), which intervenes each year to mark the beginning of the parliamentary session. The sovereign, sitted on the throne, pronounces there the Speech from the throne, which presents the legislative program of the government for the session to come. The deputies of the Communes cannot enter the room, but assist to with it since the bar of the Lords, located just at side. A similar ceremony is held at the end of the parliamentary session, without however the presence of the sovereign.

The House of Commons

The room of the House of Commons is located at the northern point of the Palate of Westminster. The room, much more austere than its colleague of the Lords, measurement 20,7 m length for 14 m broad. The benches, just like the other pieces of furniture of the section of the Palate reserved for the Communes, are of green color . Other Parliaments (e.a. those of country of the the Commonwealth, but also in Belgium) copied this code of colors, with green for the Lower House and of the red for the Upper House.

With an end of the room is installed the seat of the Speaker, offered officially to the Parliament by the Australia. The Table of the Room and its clerks face the seat of the Announcer. Benches of green color are laid out on the two sides: the deputies of the government occupy the benches on the right-hand side of the Announcer, while those of the opposition are installed on its left. One finds, contrary to the House of Lords, no “bench of cross-piece”: the room is relatively small, and can accommodate at the same time only 437 of the 646 members of the assembly. So a certain number of deputies must remain upright in the special occasionss, such as the questions sessions with the Prime Minister.

The tradition wants that the sovereign British cannot penetrate in the House of Commons. The last to do it was Charles Ier in 1642, whereas he sought to stop five marked members of the Parliament of high treason. When Charles asked the Announcer, William Lenthall, if it had information to deliver on these individuals, Lenthall had this famous answer: “ With due respect to Your Majesty, I have here eyes to see and of language to speak only with suitability of the Room, of which I am the servant ”.

Westminster Hall

Westminster Hall, the oldest remaining section of the Palate of Westminster, was built in 1097. In the beginning, the roof was supported by pillars, but was replaced under Richard II by a roof in Chêne carried out under the aegis of Henri Yevele and Hugues Herland, the Master-carpenter of the king. It is about the one of the greatest successes of medieval construction in Bois. Westminster Hall is thus one of the more big rooms of Europe not having a support for the roof, with dimensions of 73,2 m length for 20,7 m broad.

Westminster Hall had many functions during the history, but was mainly used at legal ends . The Hall accommodated until the 19th century three of the most important courts of the country, namely the Court of the Bench of the King ( Court off King' S Bench ), the Usual Court of Appeal ( Court off Common Pleas ) and the Court of the Chancellery ( Court off Chancery ). In 1873, these courses all were amalgamated to become the High Court of justice, which continued to sit at Westminster Hall until its removal with the Royal Cour of Justice in 1882. In addition to the courses regular, the Hall sheltered also important lawsuits of State, of which that of Charles Ier at the end of the First English revolution.

Westminster Hall was also always the theater of a certain number of ceremonies. XII {{E}} at the 19th century, the banquets of crowning organized in the honor of the new monarchs was held there. The last banquet was that of the king George IV, in 1821. Its successor Guillaume IV decided to give up this practice, considering it too expensive. The Hall in addition could be used as room of mourning for the particularly important funeral. This honor, usually reserved to the sovereign and for the princes consorts, was granted only seldom to theroyal ones, for example for Winston Churchill in 1965. Last mourning in date is that of the Reine Mother, in 2002.

The two parliamentary rooms, on several occasions, used Westminster Hall to address itself to the sovereign ceremoniously. Addresses for example were presented to the Jubilee Money of Elisabeth II (1977) and to its Gold Jubilee (2002), like for the 300e birthday of the Glorieuse Revolution (1988) and the 50e of the end of the Second world war (1995).

Following a reform occurred in 1999, the House of Commons has from now on the right to use for its debates a small part especially arranged and located near Westminster Hall, and which one regards as belonging to this last. The part with the shape of a shoe of Cheval lengthened a little, which contrasts with the principal room of the Lower House, where the benches are placed the ones opposite the others. This provision is supposed to reflect nature non-partisane debates held in Westminster Hall, which take place three times per week and avoid the sensitive topics.

Other rooms

Other important parts occupy the first stage of the Palate. At the southern end the Room of Dress ( Robing Room ) is, in which the sovereign British prepares for the opening of the parliamentary session by endorsing a formal garment and by avoiding imperial crown. The Peinture S of the room depict scenes of the life of the King Arthur. The Royal Gallery ( Royal Gallery ) extends in the vicinity, and is used sometimes for eager foreign dignitaries of asresser with the two parliamentary rooms at the same time. The walls are decorated with two immense paintings of Daniel Maclise: the Death of Nelson (representing the death of the celebrates admiral with the Bataille of Trafalgar) and the Meeting of Wellington and Blücher , having milked with the Bataille of Waterloo.

Immediately at the south of the House of Lords is located the Chambre of the Prince ( Prince' S Chamber ), a small anteroom used by the Lords. The part is decorated by portraits with sovereigns belonging to the dynasty with Tudors. On the other side of the Upper House is the Vestibule of the Pars ( Peers' Lobby ), where the Lords can go to discuss or negotiate in an abstract way during the meetings.

The nerve center of the Palate of Westminster east its Central Hall ( Central Lobby ) of octagonal form, located directly under the Central Tower. The room is decorated statues of statesmen and mosaics representing patron saint of the nations constitutive of the the United Kingdom: Holy Georges for the England, Holy Andre for the Scotland, Holy David for the Wales and Holy Patrick for the Northern Ireland. It is at this place that the citizens can go to the meeting of their deputies. The adjacent part, the Hall of the Deputies ( Members' Lobby ), is the place where the members of the Communes discuss or negotiate: one finds there the statues of several old Prime Ministers such as David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill or Clement Attlee.

The Palate of Westminster in addition includes/understands official apartments for the presidents of the two rooms. The apartments of the Speaker are at the northern end of the building, while those of the Lord Chancelier are at the southern end. Each day, both take part in a solemn procession when they go in their respective assemblies.

Safety

The Gentleman Usher off the Black Rod is in charge of the safety of the House of Lords, while this role is allocated to the usher for the House of Commons. These two functions are however especially honorary. The true security services are under the orders of the division of the metropolitan police force London assigned to the Palate of Westminster.

One of the most famous breaches of security of the Palate was the Conspiration of the powders of 1605: this plot, prepared by catholic fanatic, had the aim of causing an explosion during the opening ceremony of the Parliament and to thus eliminate the king protesting Jacques Ier, its family and a good part of the Aristocratie. The project nevertheless was discovered in time when a Lord of catholic confession announced to have received an anonymous letter enjoignant it not to go to the ceremony. The authorities proceeded to an excavation of the Palate, discovered the powder and could stop one of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes. Entreated found were translated into justice at the time of a lawsuit for high treason which was held precisely in Westminster Hall, before being hung and quartered. For this time, it has been of tradition which the guard of the Palate inspects the cellars before each opening ceremony of the Parliament.

The old Palate of Westminster was also the theater of the assassination of a Prime Minister in 1812: whereas it went to the House of Commons to answer the questions of the members of Parliament it, Spencer Perceval was cut down by some John Bellingham. There remains the only British Prime Minister to date to have succumbed to a murder.

In 1979, Airey Neave, a preserving politician of foreground, was killed by the explosion of its vehicle whereas it left the new carpark of the Palate. The attack was asserted by the Irish Republican Army . In spite of the appeasing of the tensions in Northern Ireland, the potential threat which a truck filled with explosives can be introduced into the enclosure of the building led the authorities to set up several concrete blocks on the way in 2003.

The Palate in addition was the place of a certain number of acts to the political motivations. In 1970, for example, members of the public launched bombs of Teargas to the right in the middle of the House of Commons as a protest against the conditions to Northern Ireland. Of the manure in 1978 for the same reasons was thrown there. The concern of the authorities vis-a-vis this type of actions led to the construction of a screen of glass separating the deputies from the public in 2004.

This barrier did not cover however the three lines of the public located ahead, and that one calls the “Gallery of the distinguished visitors” ( Distinguished Strangers' Gallery ). In May 2004, militants of the group Fathers 4 Justice (“Fathers for Justice”), opposed to the proposal for a prohibition of the hunt, disturbed the activity of the Lower House by making irruption there and while launching to Tony Blair two preventive filled with Farine dyes in mauve, of which one touched its target. In spite of this incident, the public continues to have access to the galleries.

Since the 2005, an prior approval of the metropolitan police force is in addition obligatory for the organization of any demonstration in a ray of a Kilomètre around the Palate.

Culture and tourism

The outside of the Palate of Westminster, in particular the Tower of the Clock, is one of the tourist attractions the most visited London. UNESCO, recognizing the great historical value and cultural of the building, registered it in 1987 with the world heritage of humanity, just as the Abbaye of Westminster. The Palate is also a listed monument of rank I to the the United Kingdom. It is impossible to visit the interior of the building at will, but several options can nevertheless be offered:

• the people residing at the United Kingdom can ask in advance with the member of Parliament who represents them tickets to attend the debates of the one of the two rooms since the “public galleries” envisaged for this purpose. The weather is also possible, at the same time for the residents of the country and the foreign visitors, to be during the tail the very same day, without however having the guarantee to obtain a place. Only very a small portion of the interior of the Palate can then visit herself. Each room can moreover exclude the foreign people with the debate if she wishes to sit into private.

• the residents of the United Kingdom or the education institutions British can solicit a deputy or a Lord in order to profit from a guided visit of the Parliament during the meetings. This system was temporarily suspended for the foreign visitors.
• Of the guided visits open to all is proposed during the two months of the be during which the Parliament does not sit. It is recommended to hold in advance (see here).

See too

• Political of the United Kingdom
• House of Commons/House of Lords
• List of British castles

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