Brass marker where bodies of monarchs have lain in state
Elizabeth II
George VI & Elizabeth
George V & Mary
The Hall was built in 1097 under William II (Rufus), the son of William the Conqueror, and was completed two years later. He had conceived the project to impress his new subjects with his power and the majesty of his authority...But the Hall was indeed by far the largest hall in England, and probably in Europe at that time. Measuring 73 by 20 metres (240 by 67 feet), it had a floor area covering 1,547 square metres (about 17,000 square feet), with a length of almost four cricket pitches end-to-end...In 1818, John Soane declared the north facade to be in a dangerous state of dilapidation and completely rebuilt it between 1819 and 1822. He was nevertheless instructed to adhere strictly to the original style of architecture wherever practicable, indicating the reverence already felt for the Hall. Between 1834 and 1837, Sir Robert Smirke removed the wall refacings inside the Hall and substituted a layer of Huddlestone stone which forms the facing today. He also lowered the floor to the level of a Purbeck stone floor (discovered by excavation and believed to be of Richard II's time), and laid the present York stone paving. During these works, on 16 October 1834, the Hall survived one of the greatest threats it had ever faced, when a fire broke out in the Palace of Westminster. Two underfloor stoves used to destroy the Exchequer's stockpile of tally sticks had ignited panelling in the Lords Chamber...The Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, quickly directed efforts to douse the roof with water, which saved the Hall although much of the rest of the Palace was lost. The fire fighters in the Hall were aided by scaffolding which had been erected for repairs, the thickness of the medieval walls and a slight but sufficient change in the direction of the wind during the night...
When the Palace was rebuilt after the fire of 1834, Westminster Hall was regarded by the architect Charles Barry as part of his greater design for the Palace. In about 1850, he replaced the Hall's great south window with the present stairs and arch while moving this end of the Hall several yards further back, as part of the entrance to his new St Stephen's Hall. He also reconstructed the niches for the statues of the kings on the south wall. The changes introduced by Barry nevertheless altered the historic character of the Hall, from a large enclosed room to what was effectively a corridor (though a grand one) leading elsewhere...
Several other reconstruction projects took place after Barry's time. In 1883, J L Pearson rebuilt the flying buttresses on the west side of the hall due to their bad condition, and repairs were also undertaken following a Fenian attack in 1885 which damaged an area by the Undercroft Chapel's stairs. In 1913, an inspection of the Hall's roof beams revealed that they were seriously affected by death-watch beetle, so much so that four out of the thirteen trusses were in danger of collapse. The wall-posts were almost all useless and some cavities were so excavated by beetles that a full-grown man could lie in them completely hidden from sight. Extensive repairs were carried out to the Hall's roof by Frank Baines in 1914-23. The entire roof was reinforced by concealed steelwork, and the decayed portions replaced with new oak from Wadhurst in Kent. Baines sought to preserve as much as possible of the original timber (less than 10 per cent was replaced), and even its unique golden-brown colour, which he identified as the result of a harmless fungus.
...Having survived fire and death-watch beetles, the Hall's next enemy was incendiary bombs during the Second World War. The worst attack was on the night of 10 May 1941, when the Commons Chamber and Westminster Hall were both hit by bombs. The Chamber rapidly became an inferno, while flames began to spread to the hammer-beams of the Hall. The Hall was saved by the decisiveness of Walter Elliot, a former Cabinet minister, who had hurried over from his nearby home. He was told by the Fire Service that it would be impossible to save both the Hall and the Chamber - it had to be one or the other. He had no hesitation in advising them to concentrate on saving the medieval Hall. After all, as he remarked to a friend years later, they could always build a new Commons Chamber, while the Hall was irreplaceable. Not content with merely giving advice, Elliot personally smashed with an axe an opening through the locked doors of the Hall, so that hoses could be brought inside to play on the burning roof. The Hall was soon out of danger, but the Commons was reduced to ashes and rubble...
The south window of the Hall, built by Charles Barry, had been destroyed in an earlier raid in 1940. The new window now contains the coats-of-arm or monograms of the members and servants of both Houses who fell during the war, and below the window is a memorial to those who were killed during the First and Second World Wars. Another programme of repair in 1949-50 resulted in the replacement of another five per cent of the roof's timber, and the six statues of kings were conserved between 1988 and 1994. A new phase of repairs to the Hall's floor and steps took place in 2005-06.
[Parliament.uk]
The surviving parts of the Palace of Westminster, and the Houses of Parliament are formed of two main phases, starting with Westminster Hall 1097-99, which was remodelled 1394-1401 by Henry Yevele with Hugh Herland (carpenter). The interior of the hall has a vast hammerbeam roof of an exceptionally early date and scale, and has an outstanding late C14 figure sculpture flanking the dais arch. This earlier phase also includes St Stephen's Chapel "crypt", probably built around 1292-97 and 1320, which retains perhaps the earliest surviving lierne vault, and St Stephen's Cloister and Chantry Chapel 1526-29, which were considerably restored after World War II bomb damage.
The second phase consists of the Houses of Parliament (the New Palace of Westminster) which was built from 1835-60, by Sir Charles Barry with detailing, interior decoration and furnishings by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. The offices against the side of Westminster Hall, of 1888 are by J L Pearson, where the House of Commons and Lobby were rebuilt after World War II bombing.
The building has slate roofs and galvanised cast iron plate roofs to Barry's work which also has an internal fireproof construction of iron joists and brick jack-arches. It has a cruciform and axial spine plan, with principal elevations facing the river. The massing by Barry combines symmetry on the river front terrace with the asymmetry of the major vertical accents which include the Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) and the central fleche and turrets above the roof line.
Pugin's contribution included the perpendicular Gothic detailing of the rhythmic buttresses and bay windows, the close panelling with open and blind tracery and the wealth of sculpture, carved crockets, pinnacles and finials. Pugin's interiors in the Houses of Parliament are the best preserved and most complete example of the quality and ideals of his secular decoration including all details and furnishings, and are combined with a complete programme of mid C19 and early C20 wall paintings. The loose items of furniture are not covered by listing. . The Houses of Parliament include the Great vaulted Royal Entrance at the foot of the Victoria Tower, the Lords entrance with buttressed pinnacled porch in centre of the Old Palace Yard range, St Stephen's Porch gatehouse across the south end of Westminster Hall (giving access to cross-axis of plan), St Stephen’s Hall, the north entrance to Westminster Hall with its great window above, and the crocketed finialed gable flanked by square battlemented towers (restored 1820). Three gateways in EM Barry's cloister-arcade to the east range of the New Palace Yard terminate in the virtually free-standing clock tower of Big Ben. The riverside terrace has cast iron ornamental lamps on the buttress-piers of the Embankment wall.
[Historic England]
Taken in the Palace of Westminster, for the guided tour of the Speaker's Chambers
