Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster, known also as the Houses of Parliament, is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) conduct their sittings. The Palace lies on the north bank of the River Thames in the London borough of the City of Westminster.

Interior

The Palace of Westminster includes approximately 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases, and 3 miles (5 km) of passageways. The building includes four floors; the ground floor includes offices, dining rooms, and bars. The first floor houses the principal rooms of the Palace, including the Chambers, the lobbies, and the libraries. The Robing Room, the Royal Gallery, the Prince's Chamber, the Lords Chamber, the Peers' Lobby, the Central Lobby, the Members' Lobby, and the Commons' Chamber all lie in a straight line from south to north, in the order noted. (Westminster Hall lies to a side at the Commons end of the Palace.) The third and fourth floors are used for committee rooms.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Formerly, the Palace was formally controlled by the Lord Great Chamberlain, as it was (and remains) a royal residence. In 1965, however, it was decided that each House should control its own rooms. The Speaker and Lord Chancellor exercise control on behalf of their respective Houses. The Lord Great Chamberlain retains custody of certain ceremonial rooms.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lords Chamber

The Chamber of the House of Lords is located in the southern part of the Palace of Westminster. The lavishly decorated room measures 14 by 24 m (45 by 80 ft). The benches in the Chamber, as well as other furnishings in the Lords' side of the Palace, are coloured red. The upper part of the Chamber is decorated by stained glass windows and by six allegorical frescoes representing religion, chivalry and law.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At one end of the Chamber are the ornate gold Canopy and Throne; although the Sovereign may theoretically occupy the Throne during any sitting, he or she attends only the State Opening of Parliament. Other members of the Royal Family who attend the State Opening use Chairs of State next to the Throne. In front of the Throne is the Woolsack, a backless and armless red cushion stuffed with wool, representing the historical importance of the wool trade. The Woolsack is used by the officer presiding over the House (the Lord Chancellor or a deputy). The House's mace, which represents royal authority, is placed on the back of the Woolsack. In front of the Woolsack are the Judges' Woolsack (a larger red cushion occupied by the Law Lords during the State Opening) and the Table of the House (at which the clerks sit).

Related Topics:
Woolsack - Wool - Lord Chancellor - Mace - Law Lords

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Members of the House occupy red benches on three sides of the Chamber. The benches on the right of the Woolsack form the Spiritual Side, and those to the right form the Temporal Side. The Lords Spiritual (archbishops and bishops of the established Church of England) all occupy the Spiritual Side. The Lords Temporal (nobles), however, sit according to party affiliation: members of the Government party sit on the Spiritual Side, whilst those of the Opposition sit on the Temporal Side. Some peers, who have no party affiliation, sit on the benches in the middle of the House opposite the Woolsack; they are accordingly known as cross-benchers.

Related Topics:
Lords Spiritual - Church of England - Lords Temporal - Cross-bencher

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Lords' Chamber is the site of many important ceremonies, the most important of which is the State Opening of Parliament, which occurs at the beginning of each annual parliamentary session. The Sovereign, seated on the Throne, delivers the Speech from the Throne, outlining the Government's legislative agenda for the upcoming parliamentary session. The Commons do not enter the Chamber; instead, they watch the proceedings from the Bar of the House, immediately outside the Chamber. A similar ceremony is held at the end of a parliamentary session; the Sovereign, however, does not normally attend, and is instead represented by a group of Lords Commissioners.

Related Topics:
Speech from the Throne - Lords Commissioners

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Commons Chamber

The Chamber of the House of Commons is located at the northern end of the Palace of Westminster. The Chamber measures 14 by 21 m (46 by 68 ft). It is far more austere than the grand Lords' Chamber; the benches, as well as other furnishings in the Commons side of the Palace, are coloured green. Other parliaments in Commonwealth nations have copied the colour scheme under which the Lower House is associated with green, and the Upper House with red.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At one end of the Chamber is the Speaker's Chair, a present to Parliament 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. There are green benches on either side; members of the Government party occupy benches on the Speaker's right, whilst those of the Opposition occupy benches on the Speaker's left. There are no cross-benches as in the House of Lords. The Chamber is relatively small, and can accommodate only 437 of the 646 Members of Parliament. During Prime Minister's Questions and in major debates Members of Parliament stand at either end of the House.

Related Topics:
Speaker - Australia - Prime Minister's Questions

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By tradition, the British Sovereign does not enter the Chamber of the House of Commons. The last monarch to enter the Chamber was King Charles I (in 1642); he sought to arrest five Members of Parliament on charges of high treason. When the King asked the Speaker, William Lenthall, if he had any knowledge of the whereabouts of these individuals, Lenthall famously replied: "May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here."

Related Topics:
King Charles I - High treason - William Lenthall

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The two red lines on the floor of the House of Commons are, by tradition, two sword lengths and one foot (0.3 m) apart. Protocol dictates that MPs may not cross these lines.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Westminster Hall

Westminster Hall, the oldest extant part of the Palace of Westminster, was erected in 1097. The roof was originally supported by pillars, but, during the reign of King Richard II, it was replaced by a hammerbeam roof designed by Henry Yevele and Hugh Herland. Westminster Hall is one of the largest halls in Europe with an unsupported roof; it measures 21 by 73 m (68 by 240 ft).

Related Topics:
King Richard II - Hammerbeam roof - Henry Yevele - Hugh Herland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Historically, Westminster Hall has served numerous functions. It was primarily used for judicial purposes. It housed three of the most important courts in the land: the Court of King's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of Chancery. In 1873, these courts were amalgamated into the High Court of Justice, which continued to meet in Westminster Hall until it moved to the Royal Courts of Justice in 1882. In addition to regular courts, Westminster Hall also housed important state trials, including impeachment trials and the trial of King Charles I at the end of the English Civil War.

Related Topics:
Court of King's Bench - Court of Common Pleas - Court of Chancery - High Court of Justice - Royal Courts of Justice - Impeachment - King Charles I - English Civil War

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Westminster Hall has also served ceremonial functions. From the 12th century to the 19th, coronation banquets honouring new monarchs were held here. The last coronation banquet was that of King George IV (1821); his successor, William IV, abandoned the idea because he deemed it too expensive. Westminster Hall has also been used for lyings-in-state during state funerals and ceremonial funerals. Such an honour is usually reserved for the Sovereign and for their consorts; the only non-royals to receive it in the 20th century were Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (1914) and Sir Winston Churchill (1965). The most recent lying-in-state was that of HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002.

Related Topics:
King George IV - William IV - Lyings-in-state - State funeral - Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts - Sir Winston Churchill - HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The two Houses have presented ceremonial Addresses to the Crown in Westminster Hall on important public occasions. For example, Addresses have been presented at HM The Queen's Silver Jubilee (1977) and Golden Jubilee (2002), the 300th anniversary of the Glorious Revolution (1988), and the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War (1995).

Related Topics:
HM The Queen - Glorious Revolution

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Under reforms made in 1999, the House of Commons uses a specially converted room next to Westminster Hall (not the main hall) as an additional debating chamber. (Usually, however, the room is spoken of as a part of Westminster Hall.) The room is shaped like an elongated horseshoe; it stands in contrast with the main Chamber, in which the benches are placed opposite each other. This pattern is meant to reflect the non-partisan nature of the debates held in Westminster Hall. Westminster Hall sittings occur thrice each week; important or controversial matters are typically not discussed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other rooms

There are several other important rooms that lie on the first floor of the Palace. At the extreme southern end of the Palace is the Robing Room, the room in which the Sovereign prepares for the State Opening of Parliament by donning official robes and wearing the Imperial State Crown. Paintings in the Robing Room depict scenes from the legend of King Arthur. Immediately next to the Robing Room is the Royal Gallery, which is sometimes used by foreign dignitaries who wish to address both Houses. The walls are decorated by two enormous paintings by Daniel Maclise: "The Death of Nelson" (depicting Lord Nelson's demise at the Battle of Trafalgar) and "The Meeting of Wellington and Blücher" (showing the Duke of Wellington meeting Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at the Battle of Waterloo).

Related Topics:
Imperial State Crown - King Arthur - Daniel Maclise - Lord Nelson - Battle of Trafalgar - Duke of Wellington - Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher - Battle of Waterloo

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To the immediate south of the Lords Chamber is the Prince's Chamber, a small ante-room used by Members of the Lords. The Prince's Chamber is decorated with paintings of members of the Tudor dynasty. To the immediate north of the Lord's Chamber is the Peers' Lobby, where Lords informally discuss or negotiate matters during sittings of the House.

Related Topics:
Ante-room - Tudor dynasty

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The centrepiece of the Palace of Westminster is the octagonal Central Lobby, which lies immediately beyond the Peers' Lobby. The lobby, which lies immediately below the Central Tower, is adorned with statues of statesmen and with mosaics representing the United Kingdom's constituent nations' patron saints: St George for England, St Andrew for Scotland, St David for Wales, and St Patrick for Northern Ireland. Constituents may meet their Members of Parliament in the Central Lobby. Beyond the Central Lobby, next to the Commons Chamber, lies the Members' Lobby, in which Members of Parliament hold discussions or negotiations. The Members' Lobby contains statues of several former Prime Ministers, including David Lloyd George, Sir Winston Churchill, and Clement Attlee.

Related Topics:
Mosaic - St George - St Andrew - St David - St Patrick - David Lloyd George - Sir Winston Churchill - Clement Attlee

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Palace of Westminster also includes state apartments for the presiding officers of the two Houses. The Speaker's apartments stand at the northern end of the Palace, whilst the Lord Chancellor's apartments are at the southern end. Each day, the Speaker and Lord Chancellor take part in formal processions from their apartments to their respective Chambers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~