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.

Read More

Millstream House - plaque

The plaque seems to be attempting to justify the presence here of these bits ...

Read More

Well-head from House of Commons

This plaque is affixed to the top of the stonework of the well-head. Andrew ...

Read More

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,...

Read More

Other Subjects

Sir Hugh Bidwell, Lord Mayor
2 memorials
Roger Bramble

Roger Bramble

Lord Mayor of Westminster 1985-1986.

Person, Politics & Administration

2 memorials
Edward Gustave Slesinger, OBE, BSc, MS, FRCS

Edward Gustave Slesinger, OBE, BSc, MS, FRCS

Chairman of the Board of Guy's Hospital in 1964. Born London. Edward Gustave Slesinger was born on 17 March 1888, the son of Gustave Schlesinger (1852-1903) and Louise Agnes Schlesinger née Sueski...

Person, Armed Forces, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Kate Hoey

Kate Hoey

MP for Vauxhall from 1989. Born Ireland.

Person, Politics & Administration, Ireland

2 memorials
Simon Bolivar

Simon Bolivar

"El libertador". Born Caracas. Latin American statesman and patriot who worked to liberated Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru & Venezuela from Spanish rule. In London briefly in 1810. Di...

Person, Nationalism, Politics & Administration, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Venezuela

5 memorials

Previously viewed

1 Poultry - Frieze B - Elizabeth I

1 Poultry - Frieze B - Elizabeth I

EC2, Poultry, 1

Number One Poultry, built in 1995 in a post-modern style, and voted by Time Out readers the fifth worst building in London. Designed by t...

1 subject commemorated, 4 creators
West Dene, 3 Charteris Road

West Dene, 3 Charteris Road

Sylvia Pankhurst lived here 1933 - 1956.  It was demolished probably sometime 1970 - 1995 and the site is now occupied by the Tamar Square development.

Building, Property

1 memorial
Bearman's Department Store

Bearman's Department Store

Opened by Frank Bearman on the site of a former vicarage. By 1906 he had purchased a nearby furniture shop, and in 1910 opened an arcade to match the larger department stores in London. It claimed ...

Building, Commerce

1 memorial
Walter Gropius

Walter Gropius

Architect. Born Walter Adolph Georg Gropius in Berlin. He founded the Bauhaus school. His door handle designs are still being made today. At the rise of Hitler he and his wife Ilse moved to London ...

Person, Architecture, Seriously Famous, Germany, USA

1 memorial
Doug Mullins

Doug Mullins

SE10, Royal Hill

Doug Mullins, 1932-1991, master dairyman, born over the shop on this site.

1 subject commemorated