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

Brentford and Chiswick Urban District Council

Brentford and Chiswick Urban District Council

Brentford Local Government District, created in 1874, was governed by a local board of twelve members. In 1894 it was reconstituted as an urban district, and Brentford Urban District Council replac...

Group, Politics & Administration

2 memorials
Christine Bednell

Christine Bednell

Former Councillor and in 1986-7 Mayor of the Borough of Harrow.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Happy Mahlangu

Happy Mahlangu

Deputy Commissioner for South Africa in the UK in 1998. Our photo shows Mahangu with his wife in 2013. On the net he is best known for some ill-chosen comments on the democratisation of Swaziland w...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Jacqueline Theodora Cockburn

Jacqueline Theodora Cockburn

Born Jacqueline Theodora Trotter, daughter of Henry Trotter and sister to Angela Olivia Trotter, Countess of Limerick (1897 – 1981). Married Archibald Cockburn and lived in Cheyne Walk. Died withou...

Person, Politics & Administration

3 memorials
Cornelius Barham

Cornelius Barham

Churchwarden of Christ Church Spitalfields, 1873 - 77 at least. Possibly the grocer who occupied nearby 56 Artillery Lane in 1859 - 1904.  We also found Raven Road, Spitalfields given for him in 1877.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Dame Edith Evans

Dame Edith Evans

SW1, Ebury Street, 109

English Heritage Dame Edith Evans, 1888 - 1976, actress, lived here.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Driver Albert Edward Salisbury

Driver Albert Edward Salisbury

Son of Edward and Maria Salisbury.  Husband of Elizabeth Salisbury of Stoke Newington. Served in the Royal Corps of Signals 8th Army Signals. Buried at Abney Park Cemetery Stoke Newington. Also rem...

Person

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
W. Phillips
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
A. E. Welch
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Sante Maria weather vane

Sante Maria weather vane

WC2, Temple Place, 2

Made of beaten copper.  War-damaged in 1944 it was restored and re-erected in 1950.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators