The Palace of Westminster

• The Palace of Westminster, located in London, England, is where the Parliament of the United Kingdom meets.
• Commonly referred to as the Houses of Parliament, named after the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
• "Westminster" is used as a metonym for the UK Parliament and the British Government.
• The Westminster system of government is named in commemoration of the palace.
• The Elizabeth Tower, nicknamed Big Ben, is a landmark of London and the UK.
• The palace has been a Grade I listed building since 1970.
• It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
• Originally built in the 11th century, it served as a royal palace.
• It was the primary residence of English kings until 1512.
• A fire in 1512 destroyed the royal apartments, prompting the monarch to move to Whitehall Palace.
• The remainder of the palace continued to host the Parliament of England from the 13th century.
• A larger fire in 1834 destroyed most of the palace, but Westminster Hall, dating back to the 12th century, was saved and integrated into the new building.
• Charles Barry won the competition to design the new palace and chose a Gothic Revival style.
• Construction of the new palace began in 1840 and lasted 30 years, facing delays and cost overruns.
• Charles Barry and his assistant, Augustus Pugin, both died before construction was complete.
• The Palace of Westminster has chambers for the House of Commons, House of Lords, and the monarch.
• It covers a floor area of 112, 476 m2.
• Extensive repairs were necessary after the Second World War, including the rebuilding of the Commons chamber.
• The Curia Regis, Parliament's predecessor, convened in Westminster Hall when the king was present.
• The "Model Parliament," considered England's first Parliament, assembled at the palace in 1295.
• Medieval parliaments met in various locations, but the palace became the permanent home for Parliament.
• The palace lacked purpose-built chambers initially, utilizing available gathering spaces.
• The Commons adapted St Stephen's Chapel in the 16th century, and the Lords used the Painted Chamber and, from 1801, the White Chamber.
• Significant alterations were made from the 18th century onwards to address space limitations.
• In 1770, John Vardy completed new storage and committee rooms.
• A new official residence for the Speaker of the House of Commons was completed in 1795.
• James Wyatt completed alterations and a new building in 1801.
• From 1824-1827, Sir John Soane added new library facilities and law courts.
• A fire on 16 October 1834, started by an overheated stove used to destroy tally sticks, caused the House of Lords Chamber to catch fire.
• Westminster Hall, the Jewel Tower, and parts of St Stephen's Chapel survived the fire.
• William IV offered Buckingham Palace to Parliament, but it was deemed unsuitable.
• The Painted Chamber and White Chamber were temporarily repaired for use.
• In 1835, Parliament planned for its permanent accommodation.
• Charles Barry's Perpendicular Gothic Revival design was chosen.
• Augustus Pugin assisted Barry with design details.
• The Lords Chamber was completed in 1847, and the Commons Chamber in 1852.
• Construction finished a decade later in 1860.
• The palace was bombed on fourteen occasions during the Second World War.
• On 26 September 1940, a bomb bent the sword of the statue of Richard the Lionheart.
• On 10–11 May 1941, the palace was hit at least twelve times, causing three deaths.
• The Commons Chamber was destroyed, but Westminster Hall was saved.
• The Commons Chamber was rebuilt in a simplified style after the war and completed by 1950.
• The Norman Shaw Building was acquired in 1975, and Portcullis House was completed in 2000 to provide additional office space.
• All Members of Parliament (MP) now have their own office facilities.
• The House of Commons voted in January 2018 to vacate the palace for a complete refurbishment, expected to take at least six years, starting no sooner than 2025.
• The Restoration and Renewal Client Board was formed in September 2022 to oversee these works

Architectural Style and Materials

• Charles Barry's design uses the Perpendicular Gothic style.
• Barry worked with Augustus Pugin, a Gothic architect.
• Westminster Hall survived the 1834 fire and was included in Barry's design.
• Pugin criticized Barry's symmetrical layout, describing it as "All Grecian" with "Tudor details on a classic body".
• Anston limestone was selected for the palace's reconstruction.
• The stone came from quarries in Anston, South Yorkshire, and Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire.
• Transport was achieved via the Chesterfield Canal, the North Sea, and the rivers Trent and Thames.
• The Anston limestone began to decay due to pollution, and stone was replaced as early as 1849.
• Clipsham stone from Rutland, was used to replace the decayed Anston stone.
• The project began in the 1930s and was completed in the 1950s due to the Second World War.
• A stone conservation and restoration program to the external elevations and towers began in 1981 and ended in 1994.

Towers and Flags

• The Sovereign's Entrance is richly decorated with sculptures.
• The Parliamentary Archives are housed inside the tower.
• The Royal Standard flies from the flagstaff when the Sovereign is in the palace.
• The Union Flag flies from the mast on all other days.
• At 96 metres, the Elizabeth Tower is slightly shorter than the Victoria Tower.
• The Elizabeth Tower was renamed in 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
• The Clock Tower was designed by Augustus Pugin and was built after his death.
• The tower houses the Great Clock, built by Edward John Dent using designs by Edmund Beckett Denison.
• The dials of the clock are 7 metres in diameter and made of milk glass.
• The hour hand is 2. 7 metres long, and the minute hand is 4. 3 metres long.
• The octagonal Central Tower is 91 metres tall sits above the Central Lobby.
• The Central Tower accommodates the palace’s ventilation system.
• St Stephen's Tower houses the public entrance to the palace.
• Speaker's Tower and Chancellor's Tower are named after presiding officers of the two houses.
• Speaker's Tower houses the Speaker's House.

Gardens and Grounds

• Victoria Tower Gardens is a public park on the river's side.
• Black Rod's Garden is a private entrance.
• Old Palace Yard is paved over and covered in concrete security blocks.
• Cromwell Green, New Palace Yard, and Speaker's Green are private and closed to the public.
• College Green is used for television interviews with politicians.

Interior Layout and Rooms

• The Palace of Westminster contains over 1, 100 rooms, 100 staircases, and 4. 8 kilometers of passageways.
• The ground floor has offices, dining rooms, and bars.
• The first floor houses the main rooms, including the debating chambers, lobbies, and libraries.
• The top two floors contain committee rooms and offices.
• Some of the interiors were designed and painted by J. G. Crace and Augustus Pugin.
• The palace is rectangular, with its long axis parallel to the River Thames.
• The Central Lobby is the building's center, connecting the Commons Chamber, Lords Chamber, public entrance, and Westminster Hall.
• The Royal Apartments are available for the monarch and are located beyond the Lords Chamber.
• The Sovereign's Entrance is at the base of the Victoria Tower, leading to the Royal Apartments.
• Members of the House of Lords use the Peers' Entrance, which opens to an entrance hall.
• Members of Parliament enter via the Members' Entrance, leading to the Members' Lobby.
• St Stephen's Entrance is the public entrance, leading to St Stephen's Hall and the Central Lobby.

Sovereign's Entrance

• The Sovereign's Entrance is located beneath the Victoria Tower.
• It is used by the monarch during the State Opening of Parliament.
• It is the formal entrance for visiting dignitaries.
• A staircase leads up to the principal floor with 26 steps made of grey granite.
• At the top is the Norman Porch, named for a decorative scheme that was never completed.
• It contains stained glass windows depicting Edward the Confessor and Queen Victoria.
• It contains busts of prime ministers.
• There are doors to the Royal Gallery and the Robing Room.

Robing Room

• The Robing Room is located at the southern end of the palace along the building's north-south axis.
• It is where the Sovereign prepares for the State Opening of Parliament.
• The focal point is the chair of state, adorned with arms and floral emblems of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
• The room features purple velvet embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.
• Edward Barry designed the chair and ornate marble fireplace.
• The decorative theme is the legend of King Arthur depicted in allegorical scenes.
• Five frescoes by William Dyce depict scenes from the Arthurian legend.
• Eighteen bas-reliefs by Henry Hugh Armstead are beneath the paintings in oak.
• The frieze displays the coats of arms of the Knights of the Round Table.
• Oil portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert by Franz Xaver Winterhalter hang on the wallpapered panels.
• The Robing Room was briefly the meeting chamber for the House of Lords.

Royal Gallery

• The Royal Gallery is 33. 5 by 13. 7 metres.
• The gallery is the stage for the royal procession at State Openings of Parliament.
• It is used by visiting statesmen and for receptions in honour of foreign dignitaries.
• Documents from the Parliamentary Archives are on display.
• Two large paintings by Daniel Maclise decorate the walls, The Death of Nelson and The Meeting of Wellington and Blücher after the Battle of Waterloo.
• Eight statues of gilded Caen stone flank the doorways.
• The statues depict monarchs during key battles or wars.
• The panelled ceiling features Tudor roses and lions.
• The stained-glass windows show the coats of arms of the Kings of England and Scotland.

Prince's Chamber

• The Prince's Chamber is an anteroom between the Royal Gallery and the Lords Chamber.
• The Tudor history is the theme of the room.
• Twenty-eight oil portraits on panels depict members of the Tudor dynasty.
• Twelve bronze bas-reliefs are set into the wall below the portraits.
• Scenes include The Field of the Cloth of Gold and The Escape of Mary, Queen of Scots.
• Copies of six of the ten Armada tapestries, destroyed in the 1834 fire are above the portraits.
• Included is an image of Queen Victoria, seated on a throne and flanked by Justice and Clemency.

House of Lords Chamber

• The Lords Chamber is in the southern part of the Palace of Westminster.
• The room is 13. 7 by 24. 4 metres.
• The benches and other furnishings in the Lords' side of the palace are red coloured.
• Stained glass windows and six allegorical frescoes decorate the upper part of the Chamber.
• The Throne located at the south end is used during the State Opening of Parliament.
• The Woolsack is used by the presiding officer and represents the wool trade.
• The House's mace is placed on the back of the Woolsack.
• Members of the House occupy red benches on three sides of the Chamber.
• The Lords Spiritual occupy the Spiritual Side.
• The Lords Temporal sit according to party affiliation.
• Peers with no party affiliation sit on the crossbenchers.
• The State Opening of Parliament is held annually to open each parliamentary session.
• During the State Opening, the Sovereign delivers the Speech from the Throne.
• The Commons watch the proceedings from beyond the Bar of the House.
• A small ceremony ends each parliamentary session.

Peers' Lobby

• The Peers' Lobby is an antechamber where Lords discuss matters and collect messages.
• The Lobby is a square room measuring 12 metres on each side and 10 metres in height.
• A radiant Tudor rose is the floor centrepiece.
• The floor is paved with encaustic tiles featuring heraldic designs and Latin mottoes.
• The walls are made of white stone and are pierced by doorways and decorated windows.
• The doorway is the most magnificent, with gilding and decoration, including the full royal arms.
• The side doors open into corridors.
• The Peers' Corridor is decorated with eight murals by Charles West Cope depicting historical scenes.

Central Lobby

• Located beneath the Central Tower.
• Serves as a crossroads between the House of Lords, House of Commons, St Stephen's Hall, and the Lower Waiting Hall.
• Called the "political centre of the British Empire" by constitutional theorist Erskine May.
• Constituents may meet their Members of Parliament here.
• The hall is the stage for the Speaker's Procession.
• The lobby is 18 metres across and 23 metres from the floor to the center of the vaulted ceiling.
• The panels between the vault's ribs are covered with Venetian glass mosaic.
• Each wall of the Lobby contains an arch ornamented with statues of English and Scottish monarchs.
• The tympana feature mosaics representing the patron saints of the United Kingdom.
• High windows stand over stone screens.
• The hall's post office is behind one of these screens.
• Statues of 19th-century statesmen including a statue of William Gladstone.
• The floor is tiled with Minton encaustic tiles and a passage from Psalm 127 written in Latin

Corridors

• The East Corridor leads from the Central Lobby to the Lower Waiting Hall.
• They were filled with scenes from Tudor history, all paid for by Liberal peers and each was the work of a different artist.
• "Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens" taken from Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Part 1.
• The Commons' Corridor is decorated with scenes of 17th-century political history.

Members' Lobby

• The Members' Lobby is connected to the Central Lobby via a corridor.
• In this room, Members of Parliament hold discussions or negotiations.
• It is similar to the Peers' Lobby but plainer in design and slightly larger.
• The archway of the door leading into the Commons Chamber has been left unrepaired as a reminder of the evils of war, and is now known as the Rubble Arch or Churchill Arch.
• The monument is flanked by bronze statues of Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George.
• Contains busts and statues of most 20th-century prime ministers.

Chamber of the House of Commons

• Located at the northern end of the Palace of Westminster.
• It was opened in 1950.
• The Chamber measures 14 by 20. 7 metres.
• The benches and furnishings are coloured green.
• Other parliaments in Commonwealth nations have copied the colour scheme.
• The Speaker's Chair is located at the north end of the Chamber, and was a gift from Australia.
• In front of the Speaker's Chair is the Table of the House, at which the clerks sit, and on which is placed the Commons' ceremonial mace.
• The dispatch boxes, which front-bench Members of Parliament (MPs) often lean on or rest notes on during Questions and speeches, are a gift from New Zealand.
• There are green benches on either side of the House.
• Members of the Government party occupy benches on the Speaker's right.
• The Opposition occupy benches on the Speaker's left.
• The British Sovereign typically doesn't enter the Chamber of the House of Commons.
• There are two red lines on the floor of the House of Commons that are 2. 5 metres apart.
• Protocol states that MPs may not cross these lines when speaking.

Westminster Hall

• It Was erected in 1097 for William II ("William Rufus").
• Westminster Hall is a large medieval great hall and the oldest surviving palace building.
• Westminster Hall has been used from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries for judicial purposes.
• The hall hosts joint addresses given to the two chambers of the UK Parliament.
• It was also used to host coronation banquets until the nineteenth century.
• Westminster Hall has been the venue for the lying in state of state and ceremonial funerals since the twentieth century.
• The hall is notable for its hammerbeam roof, a form typical of English Gothic architecture.
• The roof was commissioned for Richard II in 1393 and built by the royal carpenter, Hugh Herland.
• The roof measurements; 20. 7 by 73. 2 metres.
• The oak timbers came from woods in South-East England and were assembled near Farnham, Surrey, 56 kilometres (35 mi) away from Westminster.
• At the same time the rest of the hall was remodelled by the master mason Henry Yevele.
• He refaced the walls and added fifteen life-size statues of kings placed in niches.
• The renovations include eighty-three unique depictions of Richard's favourite heraldic badge.

Libraries and Apartments

• The Palace of Westminster includes state apartments for the presiding officers of the two Houses.
• Each day, the Speaker and Lord Speaker take part in formal processions from their apartments to their respective Chambers.
• There are two suites of libraries on the Principal Floor, overlooking the river.

Other Facilities

• The Strangers' Bar is one of the numerous bars, cafeterias and restaurants in the Palace of Westminster.
• There is also a gymnasium, a hair salon and two souvenir shops.

Security

• Black Rod oversees security for the House of Lords.
• The Serjeant at Arms does the same for the House of Commons.
• Security is the responsibility of the Parliamentary Security Director.
• Parliament has its own professional security force.
• Only the Serjeant at Arms is allowed to enter the Commons chamber armed.
• Tradition still dictates that only the Serjeant at Arms may enter the Commons chamber armed.
• A series of concrete blocks were placed in the roadway in 2003.
• An exclusion zone extends 70 metres from the bank on the river.
• Access to the Strangers' Gallery in the House of Commons is available to the public.
• Police from the Palace of Westminster Division of the Metropolitan Police are always on duty.
• The failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 involved a plot to assassinate King James I.
• There have been prime-ministerial assassinations and other various attacks at the palace.

Customs and Traditions

• Smoking has not been allowed in the chamber of the House of Commons since the 17th century.
• Men are expected to wear formal attire, and women are expected to dress in business-like clothing.
• Hats must not be worn and, Members may not wear military decorations or insignia.
• Members are not allowed to have their hands in their pockets.
• The only animals allowed in the Palace of Westminster are guide dogs, police dogs and police horses.
• Speeches may not be read out during debate and the reading of newspapers is not allowed.
• Applause is also not normally allowed in the Commons, but it has since been tolerated in certain cases.
• The status of the building as a royal palace raises legal questions.
• According to Halsbury's Laws of England, it is not possible to arrest a person within the "verges" of the palace.
• There is no prohibition on arrest within the palace and such arrests have been effected in the past.

Representation

• During three trips to London between 1899 and 1901, Impressionist painter Claude Monet worked on a series of canvasses that depicted the Palace of Westminster under various lighting conditions.
• The exterior of the Palace of Westminster—is one of the most visited tourist attractions in London.
• Tsar Nicholas I called it "a dream in stone".
• 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.