Description: Westminster Hall is by far the oldest part of Parliament, and while next to the rest of the building is a discrete entity, in form and function. It was built following the reign of Edward the Confessor in the late 11th century (he who seems to have bequeathed his throne to both William the Bastard of Normandy and Harold Godwinson, thereby causing no end of trouble.) Edward was responsible for nearby Westminster Abbey, in which Harold (probably) and William (definitely) were crowned in 1066.
After building the Tower of London, William moved downriver to Westminster, and established a seat of power. The Palace of Westminster was precisely that – a Royal Palace for the Crown. William built the Great Hall for banquets, feasts, and gatherings of his advisers. Formality crept in, and the King’s Council met in the Hall, the largest such building in medieval Europe. The King’s Council, when sitting in its legal capacity on appeals to the King from other courts, or for important trials, sat here for many crucial moments in English history. Thomas More, the Catholic who refused to swear allegiance to Henry VIII as head of the Church, following the Act of Supremacy in 1533, was tried here for treason, and later executed. Guy Fawkes, who headed the Gunpowder plot which is commemorated each November 5th with bonfires and fireworks was tried here, in the 17th century. Many smaller trials took place here also, with groups of judges in different corners.
The appearance of the Hall is awe-inspiring. It’s a huge building, some 1900 square yards, with large flagstones on the floor and a huge roof span, not held up by columns or pillars. It’s always cooler in here than anywhere else in the Houses – I first came into the Hall as a 16 year old, work shadowing with my local MP. At the height of summer, it was always a refreshing place to go. The Hall escaped both the fire in the 19th century that burned down the rest of the Palace, and the bombs during the Second World War.
Most of the time now, it is used as a place for MPs to meet, chat, and wander about. It’s also used for big State occasions – since Gladstone’s death in 1897, the Hall has been used for lying-in-State – the coffin and guard are placed in the centre, and the public files through to pay its respects. My mother and grandmother attended Winston Churchill’s lying-in-State in 1965, and recently many of you will have seen the Hall in pictures of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother’s lying-in-state.
The bad news is this – it's wonderful, but only open to the public in August and September, as the rest of the time it's part of the operational area of Parliament. It is, however, free to get in during those months. If you are here during the summer recess, take the opportunity to visit this most wonderful and historic of halls.
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