Over the Hill, Part 27,  London: The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey

5/11/2017        Thursday.   Cloudy, burning off late afternoon.   37F/68F

After breakfast, we headed out for our tour of Parliament.  We were pushing it a bit on time, and had to stop at the Portcullis House across the street from Parliament to pick up our tour tickets, and with the traffic, and the crowds, and the TSA-style security check upon entering Parliament, we barely made it by our ticket time of 11 o’clock.  Not to worry, they didn’t get started for another 20 minutes or so.

Before starting the description of what we saw on the tour, let’s go back for a look at some of the historical high points of the British Parliament to set the scene.

Parliament – The Institution

The concept of parliament as a council to advise the king dates back over a thousand years to Anglo-Saxon times preceding William the Conqueror’s Norman Conquest of England in 1066.  From Anglo-Saxon times down through the 1200s groups of nobles served as an advisory council for the king, a council that operated at his whim, and who he could ignore as he pleased.  In practice, the parliament was used by kings to raise cash for fighting wars, usually against Scotland, when the king felt the need.

A major event occurred in 1215 that still influences the system of laws of the advanced Western nations down to the present day: the signing of the Magna Carta.

Why was the Magna Carta so important?  In the early 1200s King John waged several unsuccessful wars, then imposed increased taxes to pay for them … which he did without the customary consent of the nobles, who after all had to collect the taxes and provide men for the wars.  This and other abuses angered the nobles enough to cause them to band together and force King John to sign an agreement.  That agreement, the Magna Carta, set forth in essence that no one, not even the king, was above the law.  This put a serious dent in the absolute power of kings, not to mention that the matter of no one being above the law has relevance down to the current day.

The representation and authority of the Parliament gradually increased over the centuries.  The term “Parliament” first appeared in official documents in 1230.  By 1327, Parliament had sufficient power to depose a king: King Edward II.  By that time, Parliament had evolved to consist of the three bodies that survive today: Lords, Commons and the Monarch.

Henry VIII expanded the power of the Parliament into matters of religious practice and doctrine … he dominated Parliament as he came to believe that he could best work his will by getting Parliament to pass laws to achieve his ends.  Much of this had to do with Henry’s war with the Catholic Church over its refusal to allow him to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, when she proved unable to produce a male heir for him.

The ebb and flow of parliamentary power reached a high point for Parliament in 1649 when, following the defeat of King Charles I in the English Civil War, Charles was tried by Parliament for high treason, and beheaded on January 30, 1649.  It’s hard to imagine the point not being made clear for future kings with the execution of King Charles: the Parliament was not to be trifled with!

Thereafter, the “Rump Parliament”, consisting of selected MPs, abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords!  Following the death of the virtual dictator Oliver Cromwell after the English Civil War, the ensuing political chaos and experimentation had gone too far … an assembly was set up which voted return to traditional ways, and to re-establish the monarchy and the House of Lords.  From that day to this, the three bodies of the Parliament remain (Commons, Lords, and Monarch), albeit evolving into a constitutional monarchy where the House of Commons wields the main power.

Parliament – the Venue

In medieval times, the Westminster site, known as Thorney Island, served as a site for royal residences going back to before William the Conqueror.  In 1512, during the reign of Henry VIII, fire destroyed the royal residence area of the Palace of Westminster, so Henry moved to the Palace of Whitehall, but Parliament remained at Westminster in a section undamaged by the fire where it had been housed since the 1200s.  There were no purpose-built chambers for Parliament at the Palace of Westminster so they had to fit in wherever they could in the limited space and aging buildings.

View of the Old Palace of Westminster from the river, circa 1500s.  (Source: londontraveller.org)

A major fire in 1834 forced the issue of inadequate space by destroying the major buildings of the Parliament complex.

The Destruction of Parliament in the Fire of 1834  (Source: parliament.uk)

A subsequent design competition for re-building the Westminster Palace was won by architect Charles Barry, whose design was in the Gothic Revival style.  Die-hard fans of the PBS series “Downton Abbey” may recall that Charles Barry also designed Highclere Castle (where Downton Abbey was filmed) which was built in a very similar Gothic Revival style.  Construction of the new palace was begun in 1840 and it took 30 years and some major cost overruns to get it all done.  Doesn’t that have a familiar ring?  Part of the new palace was reclaimed from the Thames river which is where the “River Front Façade” was built, which is that iconic view of the Parliament buildings that you commonly see from across the river.

Photo 6271.  The Iconic Riverfront Façade of Parliament  (Source: Wikipedia.org)

During World War II, the Houses of Parliament were hit by German bombs on fourteen occasions.  On the night of 10-11 May 1941, the complex was hit by 12 bombs including incendiary bombs that set both the House of Commons and Westminster Hall on fire.  Both could not be saved, so the effort was concentrated on saving the much older Westminster Hall (1097), and the House of Commons portion of the Palace (1870) was mostly destroyed, not to be rebuilt until after the war.

And in the latest chapter of the Saga of the Parliament buildings, after many decades of leaking roofs, failing sewage systems, a maze of repairs, workarounds and improvised wiring, a decision was made in 2018 to do a $10 billion renovation, during which all the lawmakers, clerks, staff, guards and such will move out to nearby buildings while the 6-year renovation is carried out.  Actually, the basic structure is in sound condition – it’s all the inside systems like plumbing and wiring that have become hopelessly obsolete.  The work on the main Palace is scheduled to start in 2025 and be done in the early 2030s.  Big Ben is also currently undergoing a four-year renovation.

Our Tour of Parliament

At the heart of Parliament is a long broad corridor that runs from the House of Lords at the south end to the House of Commons at the north end.  Mid-way on that corridor is a large circular vaulted space called the Central Lobby where impromptu meetings with constituents and “lobbyists” take place.  Our tour started in Westminster Hall, the oldest building of the complex which dates back to 1097.  We looped around some back corridors, past the Victoria Tower where the Queen enters Parliament, to the Robing Room where the queen dons her crown and robes when addressing Parliament.  I’ve got to admit: this is pretty heady!  And from there into the House of Lords where we were led to stand at the red leather benches for a short talk.  The Queen, by the way, is not allowed to enter the House of Commons.

The Red Benches of the House of Lords  (Source: outnewsglobal.com)

From the House of Lords we went down the full length of the central corridor and around some more back hallways into the chamber of the House of Commons, which we entered beside the Speakers chair, right past the Prime Minister’s bench … again standing before the green benches to listen to our guide’s description of how things are done.  I’ll have to confess to quite a emotional thrill standing in the Commons chamber, seen so many times on television and in movies, at the heart of Western democracy.  I’m not sure if it was allowed, but I reached back and slid my hand across the green leather … nothing like the tactile sense to convey the message: this is the real deal!

The Green Benches of the House of Commons.  The Speaker’s chair is at the far end.
(Source: politicshome.com, Jessica Taylor, UK Parliament)

The following diagram gives an overall view of the plan of the complex and shows our path through the building on the tour.

Path of our tour of Westminster Palace  (Source: planetware.com)

Here are some miscellaneous factoids mentioned by our excellent lady tour guide.  She was really funny and had a knack for tossing in anecdotes about historical figures and current politics, and was able to relate British terms to American counterparts, like the Lords and the U.S. Senate.

• There are about 800 lords, and 650 MP’s, so there is an impetus to reduce the number of lords.  (Now that sounds sensible!)  Only about 21% of the lords are from hereditary peerage.
• A major pending issue: the Houses of Parliament are falling apart physically: cracks, rodents, you name it.  And it’s going to take on the order of $10 billion to do a major rehab.  But they’ll be lucky to accomplish anything other than dealing with Brexit.
• Our guide suggested going to see the Supreme Court where entry is easier than Parliament, and very interesting things are discussed.  The idea of a Supreme Court was borrowed from the Americans.
• MP’s are never called by name [in the chamber].
• Prince Albert once snuck into the Commons gallery to listen to the debate, and when it was discovered that he was there, the House went silent until he left.

Our tour started and ended in the huge Westminster Hall, the oldest building in the complex, which dates back to 1097 during the reign of William II (son of William the Conqueror).

Photo 2870, Westminster Hall, built 1097.  Love those hammer-beam truss vaulted ceilings!

Westminster Abbey

When the Parliament tour was over we exited out of the north entrance of Westminster Hall and got several photos in the courtyard area there before moving on.

From Parliament, we went on to visit Westminster Abbey which is only about a block away.  There is so much to see and photograph inside the Abbey, but alas, no interior photography … drat!  The nave of the cathedral is absolutely loaded with tombs of famous and not-so-famous deceased people … we started at the west entrance with the British Tomb of Unknown Warrior, on to the Scientists’ Corner in the nave including a grand memorial to Sir Isaac Newton.  Continuing past the choir you come to Edward the Confessor’s tomb up some stairs (William the Conqueror’s predecessor), and yet more king’s tombs around the back of the choir.  We went back around to the north side to see the tomb of Elizabeth I, then around to the south side for an even bigger tomb for Mary Queen of Scots.  What?  A bigger tomb for Mary Queen of Scots than Queen Elizabeth I??  I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes!  We circled back on the north side around the “poets corridor” to see the tombs of many of the British literary luminaries.

And finally, back to the west end to see the Coronation Chair, used for the coronation of all British kings and queens, which was ordered by Edward I (also called “Longshanks” because he was so tall, 6′-2″ , a giant in those days), and in which sits the Stone of Destiny (a.k.a. the Stone of Scone or the Coronation Stone) during coronations.

Photo 6614, Westminster Abby, North Side

We returned to our hotel room for a good nap – quite tired.  Wrote response e-mails to folks back in the States about our upcoming visit in a week.

We called our daughter Amanda and had a Skype video conference before going to dinner again at Troia, to get some more of that delicious lamb kebab.  And we finally returned to our room to peruse the news, and to write up notes for the day.  To bed at 1:15.  This pace is killing me!

A Note About Our Lewis & Clark Trip.  This year we are enjoying the simpler pleasures of an American road trip: a month-long trip to the Midwest … we went to a family reunion in Kansas City, and on the way back to Seattle we are following the Lewis & Clark Trail on the path of the 1804-1806 expedition from St Louis to Astoria.  Keeping up with posts is proving as difficult as it was during the World Trip, so we are behind, but will keep the L&C blog entries coming until we get them done.

World trip blog posts will resume after we return home – we still have St. Paul’s and The Shard to cover in London, and in New York: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Bridge, the World Trade Center and a circumnavigation tour of Manhattan.  And, the last stop: the Willis Tower in Chicago before returning to Seattle.

Scott & Cheryl