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WESTMINSTER PALACE
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.
The oldest part of the Palace still in existence, Westminster Hall, dates from 1097. The Palace originally served as a royal residence, but no monarch has lived in it since the 16th century. Most of the present structure dates from the 19th century, when the Palace was rebuilt after it was almost entirely destroyed by a fire in 1834. The architect responsible for rebuilding the Palace was Sir Charles Barry, and the building is an example of Gothic revival. One of the Palace's most famous features is the clock tower, a notable London tourist attraction that houses Big Ben and is often but erroneously referred to by that name.
The Palace contains over 1,000 rooms, the most important of which are the Chambers of the House of Lords and of the House of Commons. The Palace also includes committee rooms, libraries, lobbies, dining-rooms, bars and gymnasiums. It is the site of important state ceremonies, most notably the State Opening of Parliament. The Palace is very closely associated with the two Houses, as shown by the use of "Westminster" as a metonym for "Parliament."
 HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER PALACE
Buildings have occupied the site since at least Saxon times, though the oldest buildings still in existence date from about 1097. Edward the Confessor established a royal palace on the site from 1050, and until 1529 Westminster was the main London residence of successive monarchs. A fire in that year caused Henry VIII to decamp from the Privy Palace at the south end of the site, to the Palace of Whitehall. Despite this, it remains a royal palace to this day.
On January 20, 1265 the first meeting of the first English parliament, summoned by Simon de Montfort, was conducted here, and - with some short vacations - has sat here ever since, The House of Commons made its first permanent home in St Stephen's Chapel, a part of the palace. It has been at the centre of English and Union politics ever since. It has lent its name to the parliamentary system of government known as the Westminster System.
For more than 900 years this impressive assemblage of Gothic buildings has been the home of the English government and more recently the seat of government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Indeed, it is arguable that no other place so potently symbolises democracy in the Western world as this old establishment.
Many of the ancient structures were destroyed by fire on October 16th, 1834 and rebuilt by 1870, when the Parliament moved into their current residences.
WESTMINSTER PALACE TODAY
The Palace of Westminster occupies a site of 32,400 mē hectares (8 acres) on the west bank of the Thames as it runs from south to north on one of its serpentine diversions through the city. The site is bounded to the east by its 266 metres (872 ft) waterfront, and to the west by Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square and Millbank. To the north is Portcullis House, a modern office building for MPs and their staff, and beneath which is Westminster tube station. To the south is the Victoria Tower Gardens, a small triangle of park between Millbank and the Thames.
The building has approximately 1,000 rooms, 100 staircases, and two miles (3 km) of passageways. Although some parts of the building, such as Westminster Hall predate the 1834 fire, much of the present structure is from the 1870 construction. Some notable parts of the building include (from north to south):
• The 320 ft (98 m) high slim Clock Tower, undoubtedly the most famous feature, and housing the bell known as Big Ben, from which the Clock Tower is colloquially, but inaccurately named.
• The House of Commons and the House of Lords, separated by their respective Lobbies, and by a Central Lobby, are at the heart of the building.
• Above Central Lobby is what appears to be a smaller tower. This is, in fact, the extract chimney for the ventilation of the building and reaches 300 ft (914 m) above the lobby.
• Victoria Tower is the square tower to the south west of the building, the tallest part of the palace.
• Westminster Hall, erected 1097-1099 by William Rufus, is the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster. It measures 240 by 60 ft (73 by 18 m), and was the largest in Europe for many years. The roof (1394-1398), built on the orders of Richard II, is the world's finest and largest surviving hammer beam roof.
• The hall has served many functions, notably as the site of the highest court in the land until 1882. The United Kingdom's lyings-in-state take place here: William Gladstone (1898), King George VI (1952), Queen Mary (1953), Sir Winston Churchill (1965), Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (2002).
The design of the present buildings was the result of a national competition, which had spurred a great deal of debate about whether the building should be classical or gothic, the latter eventually chosen as it was felt that gothic was more English, and it would fit in better with the remaining fragments that hadn't been destroyed. The plan of the building was the work of Charles Barry, more used to designing the classical buildings. The gothic details were designed by Augustus Pugin, and, according to Pevsner, are in the Tudor Perpendicular style and combine Picturesque elements with Gothic detail. Pugin was not entirely satisfied by the result, having described it to a friend, while sailing past on the Thames as "All Grecian, Sir; Tudor details on a classic body."
The stonework of the building was originally Anstone, a sandy magnesian limestone quarried in the village of Anston near Rotherham, South Yorkshire selected by, amongst others, William Smith, regarded as the father of English Geology. Anstone proved to be unable to withstand the acid conditions of London's smogs, and within ten years of construction was derided as a disgrace. A number of stone replacement projects since then, notably in 1902, have replaced the vast majority of Anstone with Chipsham Stone, a honey-coloured limestone from Lincolnshire.
EVENTS AT WESTMINSTER PALACE
On May 11, 1812, Prime Minster Spencer Perceval was assassinated by a bankrupt banker in the lobby of the House of Commons.
On March 30, 1979 Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Airey Neave was killed by a car bomb as he left the House of Commons car park.
During World War II the House of Commons was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in a May 10, 1941 air raid, but was rebuilt and resumed use on October 26, 1950. In the interim, the Commons sat in the Lords Chamber, with the Lords sitting in the adjacent Kings' Robing Room. Due to the noise of the refurbishments the Law Lords, who had previously used the Lords Chamber, temporarily moved to Committee Room I. Gaining the name 'Appellate Committee', this experiment proved so successful that they decided to remain there after refurbishments had been completed.
From Wikipedia.org
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VICTORIA TOWER:
Victoria Tower is the square tower at the south end of the Palace of Westminster. At 102 m, it is slightly taller than the more famous clock tower, Big Ben at the north end of the Palace (96 m). When it was built it was the tallest square tower in the world.
The main entrance at the base of the tower is the Sovereign's Entrance, which the Monarch passes through at the State Opening of Parliament. Atop the Victoria Tower is an iron flagstaff, from which the Union Jack is flown (unless the Sovereign is present in the Palace, when it is replaced by the Royal Standard)
The tower houses the Lords' Record Office, which has custody of the records of both the Houses of Parliament (despite its name).
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