The Palace of Westminster, located on the banks of the River Thames in London, serves as the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Palace of Westminster site was originally located on Thorney Island a small island on the River Thames, upstream of medieval London. The island was formed by rivulets of the River Tyburn, which entered the Thames near the lowest point where it could be forded from the north bank at low tide.
The site was first used for a royal residence by King Cnut the Great during his reign from 1016 to 1035.
St Edward the Confessor was the penultimate Anglo-Saxon monarch of England, ruling from 1042 to 1066. He built a royal palace on Thorney Island at about the same time as he built Westminster Abbey. He made the original palace of Westminster his main residence and this continued to be the royal domicile until the 16th century.
Henry VIII of England was the last royal to live at Westminster Palace. The royal residential area was gutted by fire in 1512 and in 1530 he acquired York Place (later renamed Whitehall Palace) to replace Westminster as his main London residence,
The palace of Westminster has served as the home of the Parliament of England since the 13th century, when the first Parliament in England was summoned by baronial leader Simon de Montfort.
It is also the seat of the Royal Courts of Justice, based in and around Westminster Hall.
In 1605, Guy Fawkes attempted to blow Westminster Palace up. He was caught and later executed
On October 16, 1834 a huge fire largely destroyed the Palace of Westminster. The conflagration was caused by the burning of small wooden tally sticks that had been used as part of the accounting procedures of the Exchequer until 1826, which were being disposed of carelessly in the two furnaces under the House of Lords. The blaze caused a chimney fire, initially under the floor of the Lords' chamber, then up through the walls before spreading rapidly throughout the complex.
The fire lasted for most of the night and developed into the biggest conflagration to occur in London between the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz of the Second World War; the fire could even be seen by the King and Queen from Windsor.
Massive crowds were attracted to the spectacle. By the following morning a large part of the palace had been destroyed, although the actions of the London Fire Engine Establishment ensured that Westminster Hall and a few other parts of the old Houses of Parliament survived.
J. M. W. Turner watched the fire of 1834 and painted several canvases depicting it, including The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons below.
In 1836 a design competition for a new palace was won by Charles Barry who, in collaboration with Augustus Pugin, incorporated the surviving buildings into the new complex.
Parliament's "new palace," was completed in 1850. It covers eight acres and has 1,100 rooms ,100 staircases and three miles (4.8 kms) of passageways, which are spread over four floors.
Today the ground floor is occupied by offices, dining rooms and bars; the first floor (known as the principal floor) houses the main rooms of the Palace, including the debating chambers, the lobbies and the libraries. The top-two floors are used as committee rooms and offices.
On the spring or autumn weekend when clocks go forward or back, 2,000 clocks in the Palace of Westminster must be changed.
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The Palace of Westminster site was originally located on Thorney Island a small island on the River Thames, upstream of medieval London. The island was formed by rivulets of the River Tyburn, which entered the Thames near the lowest point where it could be forded from the north bank at low tide.
The site was first used for a royal residence by King Cnut the Great during his reign from 1016 to 1035.
St Edward the Confessor was the penultimate Anglo-Saxon monarch of England, ruling from 1042 to 1066. He built a royal palace on Thorney Island at about the same time as he built Westminster Abbey. He made the original palace of Westminster his main residence and this continued to be the royal domicile until the 16th century.
Henry VIII of England was the last royal to live at Westminster Palace. The royal residential area was gutted by fire in 1512 and in 1530 he acquired York Place (later renamed Whitehall Palace) to replace Westminster as his main London residence,
It is also the seat of the Royal Courts of Justice, based in and around Westminster Hall.
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| Parliament before the 1834 fire with Old Palace Yard in the foreground |
In 1605, Guy Fawkes attempted to blow Westminster Palace up. He was caught and later executed
On October 16, 1834 a huge fire largely destroyed the Palace of Westminster. The conflagration was caused by the burning of small wooden tally sticks that had been used as part of the accounting procedures of the Exchequer until 1826, which were being disposed of carelessly in the two furnaces under the House of Lords. The blaze caused a chimney fire, initially under the floor of the Lords' chamber, then up through the walls before spreading rapidly throughout the complex.
The fire lasted for most of the night and developed into the biggest conflagration to occur in London between the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz of the Second World War; the fire could even be seen by the King and Queen from Windsor.
Massive crowds were attracted to the spectacle. By the following morning a large part of the palace had been destroyed, although the actions of the London Fire Engine Establishment ensured that Westminster Hall and a few other parts of the old Houses of Parliament survived.
J. M. W. Turner watched the fire of 1834 and painted several canvases depicting it, including The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons below.
In 1836 a design competition for a new palace was won by Charles Barry who, in collaboration with Augustus Pugin, incorporated the surviving buildings into the new complex.
Parliament's "new palace," was completed in 1850. It covers eight acres and has 1,100 rooms ,100 staircases and three miles (4.8 kms) of passageways, which are spread over four floors.
Today the ground floor is occupied by offices, dining rooms and bars; the first floor (known as the principal floor) houses the main rooms of the Palace, including the debating chambers, the lobbies and the libraries. The top-two floors are used as committee rooms and offices.
On the spring or autumn weekend when clocks go forward or back, 2,000 clocks in the Palace of Westminster must be changed.
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