Building    From 1295 

House of Commons

Building

The palace of Westminster has been the home of Parliament since a meeting there in 1295. It split into two "houses" in 1341 but, having been built as a royal residence, the palace had no suitable meeting spaces so the two houses used a number of different rooms. Then in 1547, as one of the results of the dissolution of the monasteries, St Stephen's Chapel, inside the Palace of Westminster, fell vacant and was used thereafter as the debating chamber for the Commons.

Over the years many changes were made to the chapel and then on 16 October 1834 the Palace of Westminster was largely destroyed in a fire and of St Stephen's only the cloisters and crypt survived.

Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin built the Gothic-style replacement palace over the period 1840-1870. The Commons chamber was completed in 1852.

On the night of 10/11 May 1941 the Commons chamber was badly bombed. After the war it was rebuilt by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, in a simplified version of what had been there before. More details at Parliament UK.

As well as the stonework in Hampstead there is also a finial in Maidstone (thanks to Scott Martin for this bit of info.) apparently 'set free' by the 1941 bomb but it's not clear if it is a rare on-site survivor of the fire or part of the Victorian replacement. The wonderful Londonist tells us that after the 1941 bomb authenticated lumps of stone from the building were modelled into ash-trays etc. and sold for war-time charities. Another Londonist post reports that a rather odd 2014 sculpture in Bermondsey contains fragments of the Houses of Parliament, which we'd guess came from the House of Commons.

See also Houses of Parliament.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
House of Commons

Commemorated ati

Millstream House - gargoyle

See the plaque at this site for more details.

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Millstream House - plaque

The plaque seems to be attempting to justify the presence here of these bits ...

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Well-head from House of Commons

This plaque is affixed to the top of the stonework of the well-head. Andrew ...

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This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
House of Commons

Creations i

Silver Jubilee fountain

Funded by private donations from MPs and unveiled by the Queen. 26 foot high,...

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Other Subjects

Councillor J. Samuels

Councillor J. Samuels

Chairman of the Shoreditch Housing Committee in 1940.  From Tower Block: "Aggressive site-acquisition underpinned London's most forceful borough housing drive: that of Shoreditch MBC. This authorit...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Sir James Duke

Sir James Duke

Alderman of St Dunstan's ward. Lord Mayor 1848. M.P. London 1849. Born Montrose, Scotland.

Person, Lord Mayor, Politics & Administration, Scotland

2 memorials
William Sloman

William Sloman

Poplar councillor imprisoned during the 1921 rates protest.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Diocese of London

Diocese of London

From the Picture source: The Diocese of London is the group of Church of England organisations located in North London. It comprises parishes, schools, chaplaincies, missional communities and other...

Group, Politics & Administration, Religion

1 memorial
Women's suffrage

Women's suffrage

Throughout history women have generally not been allowed to vote, with, by the 19th century, a few exceptions based on the woman's marital status or her property ownership, and then only in some el...

Event, Gender Issues, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Previously viewed

World War 2

World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do visit the picture source web site - it has a fascinating collection of maps.  And we enjoyed these photos of current WW2 ev...

Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy

356 memorials
Bob, the street cat

Bob, the street cat

This photo shows Bob on James Bowen's shoulders at the Angel station.

Animal, Animals

1 memorial
Betty Westgate

Betty Westgate

CR0, Colworth Road, 1

Betty Westgate MBE, 1919 - 2000, a pioneer and campaigner for breast cancer support and education. Founded Breast Cancer Care from this h...

2 subjects commemorated
ORP Conrad

ORP Conrad

Former Cruiser in the Polish Navy. ORP stands for Okret Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Ship of the Polish Republic).

Vehicle, Armed Forces, Poland

1 memorial
J. F. Murray

J. F. Murray

Limehouse man who died in WW1. Initials "J. F." or "T. F."

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial