Editing Palace of Westminster (section)

=== Old Palace ===
[[File:Westminster in the time of Henry VIII.png|thumb|Conjectural restoration of [[Westminster]] during the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547).<ref>The bird's-eye view by H. J. Brewer was published in ''[[Building (magazine)|The Builder]]'' in 1884, according to {{cite web |url-status=live |url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-ben/collections/painting-one/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013131949/http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-ben/collections/painting-one/ |archive-date=13 October 2010 |title=Perspective view of the old Palace of Westminster |website=UK Parliament }}</ref> [[St Stephen's Chapel]] is in the centre, with the [[White Chamber]] and [[Painted Chamber]] on the left and Westminster Hall on the right.
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The site of the current palace and Houses of Parliament may have been used by [[Cnut]] during his reign from 1016 to 1035, and from {{Circa|1045|1050}} [[Edward the Confessor]] built a palace and the first [[Westminster Abbey]]. The oldest surviving part of the palace is Westminster Hall, which dates from the reign of [[William II of England|William II]] ({{reign | 1087 | 1100}}). The palace was the principal residence of the English monarchs in the late Medieval period. In 1512, during the early reign of [[Henry VIII]], a fire destroyed the royal apartments of the palace.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A palace for Parliament |work=All Change at the Palace of Westminster |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/church_state/westminster_palace/change_palace_westmin_08.shtml |first1=Jacqueline |last1=Riding |date=2005-02-02 |access-date=8 February 2023 |publisher=BBC History |language=en-uk}}</ref> In 1534 Henry moved to the neighbouring [[Palace of Whitehall]], formerly [[York Place]], which he had seized from Cardinal [[Thomas Wolsey]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fraser |first=Antonia |url=https://archive.org/details/wivesofhenryviii00fras_0 |title=The Wives of Henry VIII |publisher=Alfred A Knopf |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-394-58538-3 |location=New York}}</ref> Although Westminster remained a royal palace, from this point on its primary occupants were the two houses of Parliament and various courts of law.

The predecessor of Parliament, the [[Curia Regis]], met in Westminster Hall when the king was in residence. The "[[Model Parliament]]", considered the first Parliament of England, met at the palace in 1295;<ref name="Factsheet G03">{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/g03.pdf |title=A Brief Chronology of the House of Commons |date=April 2009 |publisher=House of Commons Information Office |access-date=5 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623010012/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/g03.pdf |archive-date=23 June 2015}}</ref> while medieval parliaments of England met in a variety of locations, the palace was frequently used and developed into the body's permanent home. The palace did not have purpose-built chambers for the House of Commons or the House of Lords instead using the available large gathering spaces built for the palace. In time, the Commons adapted [[St Stephen's Chapel]] for its use in the sixteenth century, and the Lords used the [[Painted Chamber]] and, from 1801, the [[White Chamber]]. 

{{anchor|Public Buildings (Houses of Parliament) Act 1800}}
The palace underwent significant alterations from the 18th century onwards, as Parliament struggled to carry out its business in the limited available space. These included a new storage and committee rooms by [[John Vardy]], completed in 1770; a new official residence for the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]], completed in 1795; and significant alterations and a new building by [[James Wyatt]], completed in 1801. The last alterations were undertaken by [[Sir John Soane]] between 1824 and 1827, and included new library facilities for both Houses of Parliament and new law courts for the [[Court of Chancery|Chancery]] and [[Court of King's Bench (England)|King's Bench]].