SPECIAL FEATURE


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A view of the Houses of Parliament from across the river from Victoria Tower to Big Ben, gives the impression of an entirely 19th Century edifice as designed by Charles Barry, following the fire in 1834. The original buildings were a Royal Palace, commenced initially by Edward the Confessor and added to over the next centuries. Henry VIII ceased to use the building as a palace and it subsequently became the home of the Houses of Parliament and was also extensively used for a time as Law Courts.


There is though a surprising number of surviving medieval parts namely: Westminster Hall, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, St Stephen's Cloisters and, outside the current Parliamentary boundary, the Jewel Tower.


This month features


Richard Ascough on the history of the Parliament buildings.


He has previously written on the topic of the “Putney Debates” which was featured in the Oct/Nov 2012 edi- tion of the eMagazine


Westminster Hall is the earliest surviving part of the Palace. The lower parts of its walls are Norman, built for William II in 1097-1099. The hall is 240’ by 68’. It was remodelled in 1394 during the reign of William II by Henry Yevele and Walter Walton and the carpenter Hugh Herland. The roof is the largest surviving Hammer- beam roof and is a magnificent treasure of


this country.


Unfortunately, it is not known by many of our citizens unless they visit Parliament. The north façade of the hall, as built by Yevele, used twin towers with a very large window in between. Originally there was a screen of niches which contained statues but these were removed following restoration by Soane in 1818-1820. Five of the statues,


although damaged, are now inside the hall on the sills of the east window.


This chapel is the lower chapel to St Stephen’s which was a double royal chapel, similar to the surviving Sainte Chapelle in Paris. The Undercroft was completed in 1297. The upper chapel subsequently became the House of Commons and was destroyed by the fire of 1834. This chapel is of considerable significance as many of the roots of later decorated gothic can be traced to it. The interior of the chapel was heavily restored following the fire of 1834 with most of the decoration being the work of Charles Barry’s son, E M Barry.


This cloister was built in 1526-1529, north of the chapel and to the east of Westminster Hall. This was the cloister of the College of St Stephen and is a two-storied cloister with a projecting two-storey oratory on the west side. The cloister was damaged by the 1834 fire and restored, and was again restored after the bomb of 1941 which destroyed the Commons.


The Jewel Tower which is outside the precinct of the Palace in Abingdon Street was built during the reign of Edward III between 1365-1366. It contained the King’s personal treasures. Once again, Henry Yevele was the architect, and it was connected to the rest of the palace by a wall which no longer survives. The tower was partly moated and within living memory still contained water, although this has been drained for some years.


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