We caught the 148 bus to Westminster. Silly us we got off 1 stop early.
We arrived at Westminster around 10am, imagine that, us being early!
The tour was due to start at 11am with admission 20 minutes beforehand. Lucky for us we were allowed to go in early.
Unfortunately due to all the restoration work being carried out a lot of the buildings are covered in scaffolding, and parts will continue to be covered until 2021.
To get in you have to go through Airport type security.
By its very nature this tour was a history lesson, but very interesting. We did a self guided audio tour, it was very good. It took us about 90 minutes.
And now for your history lesson, or maybe it would be better called “Greg’s interpretation of the history and function of the Palace of Westminster and the Houses of the UK Parliament”
In 1265, Westminster Hall was the location of the 1st Parliament.
In 1695 Guy Fawkes attempted to assassinate the king and parliament using 36 barrels of gunpowder he and his men had hidden in the basement of the building. At about midnight on 4th Nov they were found and arrested.
Above the entrance into the main lobby is “New Dawn”, an artwork commissioned specifically for the large arched window area over the entrance. It is described as a light sculpture for women’s suffrage. It is made from 168 glass scroll discs and is 6m high. An impressive art work.
The Suffrage movements were mentioned regularly through the tour, I was surprised by my lack of understanding of the terms and movements. Active Suffrage – The right to vote in public political elections (Passive Suffrage is the right to stand for election) was partially granted in 1860 when the right to vote was given to some men (those who rented proprietary land of certain value, about 1 in 7 men qualified). In 1918 all males over 21, were given the right to vote. In 1928 females over 30 were granted the right to vote. 1928 is often referred to as the date on which Universal Suffrage was achieved.
St Stephens Hall is where House of Commons used to meet. It has 12 white marble statues and large murals on walls. In 1834 a fire destroyed this hall, but it was rebuilt. Under St Stephen Hall lies the Chapel of St Mary and above it The Elizabeth Tower that houses 5 bells, the biggest is Big Ben.
The Central Lobby connects The House of Lords and The House of Commons.
Constituents can meet their members here any time.
It is Neo gothic/gothic revival, and even has a post office. After the fire of 1834 a competition was held to design new parliament house, one of the main conditions was that it had to be gothic style.
The room features large mosaics of the patron saints of the 4 constituent states of UK. (St George. St David St Andrews. St Patrick.) The corridor found under St George leads to the House of Lords Chamber which is Independent of House of Commons. The Lords/Ladies have life membership. But it is no longer hereditary. (It is equivalent to our Senate)
The Not Content Lobby and Yes Lobby are two rooms used for counting of the voting for divisions in The House of Lords. They are both long corridors
There is no dominant party in the house, it is currently around 1/3 each to labour, the conservatives and cross bench, therefore the Cross bench has a big say.
The Princes Chamber is the ante room to House of Lords.
The Royal Gallery, WOW, Gold, large murals, (war paintings of the 1860’s depicting military victories Waterloo and Trafalgar) ornate roof and the portraits of many monarchs (includes Queen Charlotte ?)
The Norman Porch Contains busts of old Prime Ministers.
The Queen’s Robing room is where the monarch gets her royal robes on to open Parliament. The decorative theme in the room is the legend of King Arthur and highlights the Tudor Rose. The Royal Gallery is the main processional route for opening of Parliament and used for state occasions and meetings.
Princes Chamber has a Tudor theme and 28 portraits from the 1850’s. It is the debating chamber for The House of Lords. It has stained glass windows all around in top 1/3 of height of room. The room is around 20+m tall and all the seating is in Red leather. The room feels opulent. Paintings of the Royal and peerage linage around the chamber behind the seating. The richest decoration in Palace.
Peers Lobby, is the closest point the peer can get to the House of Commons. The Monarch is not permitted in House of Commons, the Usher of the Black Rod works in their place to deal with commons.
The Central Lobby is the midway point between both houses. Since 1997 the four countries of UK have their own parliaments and each has limited powers.
The Members Corridor connects to House of Commons, and is easily distinguished by the Green decor.
The Member’s lobby is the ante room to House of Commons chamber. There are 650 constituencies in the UK, each with 1 having an elected member to “The Commons”. The majority party forms government and elects the PM.
The No Lobby and Yes Lobby are two rooms off the main chamber and are used for counting of the voting for the Commons divisions.
The house is not large enough to seat all the members at once. Sometimes, for important votes or occasions, they have to sit on steps etc. The Chamber is very plain, wooden and green leather. It serves the same function as our House of Reps. There are lots of observation seats above and around the top of the chamber.
Hansard records all accounts of chamber and committee proceedings. During the tour we were not allowed to sit down in either chamber.
We got the 148 bus home and relaxed for a bit before heading out again. Deb wanted to have a look at the flowers on display in Claridge’s for the Chelsea Flower Show. So we walked up to Grosvenor Square and up to Claridge’s. We were in our casual street clothes and the 3, yes 3 doormen in top hats out front gave us a once over as they helped us through the front door. We walked in, and had a look at a few flower arrangements before sitting down just off the main foyer. At least one guy kept us in his sight all the time we were there. After Deb had soaked up enough atmosphere we left and walked up to Oxford St. As we walked down Oxford St we saw a large impressive building at the end of a short street. We walked up to have a look, very swish, The Oriental Club. Back on the road and we walked around to St Christopher’s Place. A lot of nice looking casual eating and “interesting” shops everywhere. Then down to Marks and Spencer to do a bit of grocery shopping and back to our flat.
Another good day.
A lovely day. So much history!!
Love getting the updates. ❤️