Building    From 1295 

House of Commons

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 image is captioned at source: "Interior of the House of Commons In Session by Peter Tillemans, c. 1710. Pre-1834 interior of the House of Commons when it was situated in the medieval chapel of St. Stephen's where the House of Commons had sat since 1547. This painting shows the galleries designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The Speaker depicted is believed to be Richard Onslow. The arms of Queen Anne are shown above the Speakers chair."

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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.

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Millstream House - plaque

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

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Well-head from House of Commons

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

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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,...

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Other Subjects

David Arthur Gay

David Arthur Gay

Born Plumstead. David was a director of St John's, Smith Square Charitable Trust, 14 Oct 1997 - 27 Jan 2010. Died at St Mary’s Paddington. We are grateful to David's son, Shaun, for the information...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Hugh Garside

Hugh Garside

Westminster Councillor. Married to Mair Garside. Our colleague Andrew Behan has kindly investigated this man: Hugh Gervais Garside was born on 18 August 1928 the son of Robert Ollerenshaw Garside ...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
John Wylde

John Wylde

Renter Warden of the Innholders, 1920 - 21.

Person, Benefactor, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
James Stephen

James Stephen

Anti-slavery campaigner.  Born Dorset.  Trained in law and worked for a time in the Carribean where he saw the cruelty to slaves and became an abolitionist.  The death of his first wife deepened hi...

Person, Law, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, Religion, Caribbean Islands

1 memorial
James Durnford Capel

James Durnford Capel

One of the wardens of Aske's Hospital in 1828. We have found two possible appearances on the web (and are convinced enough that they refer to our man that we've taken his dates): A Family History ...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Joseph Kremer

Joseph Kremer

Sculptor. Born Tromborn France, studied in Paris.  Possibly of German ancestry.  From Mapping Sculpture: Kremer came to England on 25 September 1859. As his first recorded activity is in Penkhull,...

Person, Sculpture, France

7 memorials
South Place Chapel

South Place Chapel

A radical nonconformist congregation, led by William Johnson Fox moved from Bishopsgate premises into this purpose-built Chapel at South Place, Finsbury. In 1926 the South Place Ethical Society sol...

Building, Religion

1 memorial