Houses of parliament (0)

HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT

Houses of Parliament also known as the Palace of Westminster is one of the most attractive buildings in London. It stands on the site where Edward the Confessor had the original palace built in the first half of the eleventh century . In 1547 the royal residence was moved to Whitehall Palace, but the Lords continued to meet at Westminster, while the commons met in St. Stephen ’s Chapel . Ever since these early times , the Palace of Westminster has been home to the English Parliament.
In 1834 there was a huge fire that destroyed much of the old palace. All that remained was the chapel crypt, The Jewel Tower and Westminster Hall. It was Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister, who saved the great hall by arranging for the fire engines to be brought right into the hall and personally supervising the fire fighting operation .
The magnificent Gothic Revival masterpiece you see today was built between 1840 and 1888, this was the work of Charles Barry who designed the buildings to blend with nearby Westminster Abbey . The two imposing towers, well known landmarks in London, are the clock tower, named after it’s bell called Big Ben, and Victoria tower, on whose flag pole the Union Jack flies when parliament is sitting.
Most of the tourists think that Big Ben is the tower, but Big Ben is only a clock, which was built in 1858 to 1859 . It is probably named, after Sir Benjamin Hall, the first Commissioner of Works . Big Ben is very heavy. It weights over 13 tons. The clock mechanism, alone , weights about 5 tons. The figures on the clock face are about 2 feet long.
Charles Barry's design incorporated a clock tower. The dials were to be thirty feet in diameter , the quarter chimes were to be struck on eight bells, and the hours were to be struck on a 14 ton bell. Barry invited Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, a clockmaker of reputation, to submit a design and price for constructing such a clock. No doubt Vulliamy was pleased to be the clockmaker of choice for what was then to be the largest clock in the world, but other enterprising firms were not happy with the manner in which they had no opportunity to compete for the contract. Subsequently, the Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airy, was appointed as referee for the new clock and produced a specification in 1846. A key requirement of the specification was that the clock was to strike the first blow of each hour correct to one second in time. Tenders were invited and were received from three makers , Dent , Vulliamy and Whitehurst. Dent was Airy’ s favourite and soon he had to make the clock himself . In 1852 Dent was awarded the contract.
There were many troubles during building the tower. The first of the difficulties occurred when it was discovered that the architect had failed to make the necessary provision for the clock in the tower. Edward John Dent died in 1853 and the clock mechanism was completed by his stepson Frederick Rippon (who changed his name to Frederick Dent). In 1854 the mechanism was ready to be installed in the tower but this was not possible as the tower was incomplete. Denison was therefore able to spend a number of years testing out different types of escapement on the mechanism as it operated in Dent's workshop. It was during this period that he invented the double three-legged gravity escapement, which enables the clock to keep such accurate time.
The next 114 years of the clock's history were relatively serene and Big Ben soon developed a reputation for great accuracy. In 1906, the gas lighting of the dials was replaced by electric lighting. Electric winding of the clock was introduced in 1912. The mechanism was overhauled in 1934 and 1956.
St. Stephen’s hall is the central meeting place where constituents can meet or "lobby" their Members of Parliament. It is from here that you will be shown your direction either to the House of Lords or Commons.
An incendiary bomb destroyed the House of Commons in 1941. A reconstruction of Barry’s original design for the house, taken from St. Stephen’s chapel, the commons old meeting place, was completed in 1950. The seating arrangement in the house is reminiscent of choir stalls, the members of the cabinet sit on the front benches while opposition senior members sit directly opposite. The distance between the benches marked out on the floor in red lines, is exactly two sword lengths and one foot apart. Members are not allowed to cross these lines, thus ensuring that debates are kept orderly. In the centre of the floor stands the Table of the House, on which the mace is placed at the start of each parliamentary sitting; this is the Speaker’s sceptre. The speaker of the house presides over sittings, keeping order.
The House of Lords decorated in scarlet and gold has all the grandeur one would expect in this chamber. This is where Her Majesty the Queen comes to open Parliament each November. Placed beneath a regal canopy, the gold throne which dominates the house is where the Queen sits to deliver the traditional opening speech . The Lord Chancellor sits opposite, on the famous Woolsack, this is a large scarlet cushion filled with wool , a tradition dating back to the middle ages when wool was England ’s largest export .
http://www.aboutbritain.com/HousesParliament.html ,
http://www.londonnet.co.uk/ln/guide/about/gallbigb.html ,  
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Westminster_Palace.html ,
http://www.london-pages.demon.nl/london_big_ben.html ,
http://www.travellondon.com/templates/attractions/gallery_bigben.html ,