Old Westminster Palace

The Old Palace has a rich and colourful architectural history. Originally King William II, William the Conquerors son, commissioned the palace, however only Westminster Hall was completed during his reign. It was constructed as a venue for feasts and entertainment, the palace also acting as the monarchs principal residence while the pre-cursor to Parliament and itself have met in the Great Hall since the late Medieval Period, officially the first time being in 1295. The palace has had many architects, however the original is unknown. Over time instead of constructing a new palace, buildings and facades were added and the original form underwent extensive remodelling during this period. The neo-Gothic architect James Wyatt also carried out works on both the House of Lords and Commons between 1799 and 1801. Then from 1824 to 1827 Sir John Soane altered the scheme further, demolishing the medieval House of Lords chamber, the same targeted in 1605 by the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, as well as the addition of new library facilities for both Houses of Parliament and new law courts for the Chancery and King's Bench. Strangely these constant alterations to the original old palace created its own odd identity. It retained a lot of the Gothic style since its initial construction, however after Soanes additions further included a neo-classical element to the overall structure. This conflict came under scrutiny of critics, however I feel it added a certain unique character to the palace. The original building utilized 650 tons of concrete with walls up to 2.1 meters deep according to drawings of the structure. Due to renovations there are discrepancies over when parts of the original palace were built. For example the

hammer-beam timber roof dates from 1394 to 1399. This was during Richard IIs reign and the open-timber roof was impressive with a single span of 67 feet as well as the incorporation of both hammer-beam and arch-brace-and-collar truss types. In terms of shape and planning, both the old and current palace has maintained a very geometrical, rectangular approach. Hallways are long and many rooms in the original building were merely converted living spaces, until King Henry VIII began to us Palace Whitehall in place of Westminster as his home in 1530. The original and present palace both reside on the banks of the River Thames on what was previously known as Thorney Island, which later became Westminster. Now the island now longer exists as such, with the river embanked and the land having risen over time. The Old Palace of Westminster unfortunately no longer stands. By 1834, an even greater fire ravaged the heavily rebuilt Houses of Parliament, and the only structures of significance to survive were Westminster Hall, the Cloisters of St Stephen's, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft and the Jewel Tower. Almost the entire original Palace of Westminster is gone with a completely new Gothic-style building in its place today, simply referred to as the House of Parliament.

Bibliography: Courtenay, Lynn T., December 1984, The Westminster Hall Roof and its 14th-Century Sources, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 195. Arnold-Baker, Charles, 2001, The Companion to British

History, Routledge. History of Westminster Hall, http://www.parliamentarydiary.co.uk/history-westminster.html History of the Palace of Westminster, 2007 Armchair Travel Co. Ltd., http://www.exploreparliament.net/nssMovies/11/1111/1111_.htm Palace of Westminster floor plan in 1605: http://www.show.me.uk/gunpowderplot/objects/ImageInterpret er/GPP_-_Palace_Of_Westminster_Part_Two/img_46_ii_x2.jpg