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.

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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

John A. Brand

John A. Brand

Comptroller of the Bridge House Estates, 1894.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Sir Thomas Gresham

Sir Thomas Gresham

Created the Royal Exchange in 1566 where the Gresham family crest, a grasshopper, can be seen. Son of Richard Gresham who was a Lord Mayor of London but Thomas never was.

Person, Commerce, Politics & Administration

3 memorials
Richard Smike

Richard Smike

in 1826 co-churchwarden of a church in Westminster.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
John Bradford

John Bradford

Co-churchwarden of St Peter and St Matthew Friday Street in 1712.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Rodney Bickerstaffe

Rodney Bickerstaffe

Rodney Kevan Bickerstaffe was born on 6 April 1945 in Hammersmith. He was the General Secretary of National Union of Public Employees from 1982 to 1993 and of UNISON from 1996 to 2001. He died fro...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Previously viewed

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
Robert Seymour

Robert Seymour

WC1, Doughty Street, Dickens Museum

A nearby information board informs: Probably the most prolific illustrator and cartoonist of his era, Seymour was the first artist ever ...

1 subject commemorated
Edward White

Edward White

Churchwarden of St John the Baptist upon Walbrook in 1884.  Given the shared surname we thought this might be the Reverend White's son, Edward, but he would have been only 11 in 1884 so it's not hi...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial