Editing Palace of Westminster (section)

=== Central Lobby ===
[[File:London - The Parliament - 2779.jpg|thumb|alt=The Central Lobby|''Saint George for England'' by [[Edward Poynter|Sir Edward Poynter]] and ''Saint Patrick for Ireland'' by [[Robert Anning Bell]] are two of the four mosaics decorating the Central Lobby.]]

Originally named "Octagon Hall" because of its shape, the Central Lobby is the heart of the Palace of Westminster. It lies directly below the Central Tower and forms a busy crossroads between the House of Lords to the south, the House of Commons to the north, St Stephen's Hall and the public entrance to the west, and the Lower Waiting Hall and the libraries to the east. Its location halfway between the two debating chambers has led constitutional theorist [[Erskine May]] to describe the Lobby as "the political centre of the British Empire",<ref>[[#Quinault|Quinault (1992)]], p. 93.</ref> and allows a person standing under the great chandelier to see both the Royal Throne and the Speaker's Chair, provided that all the intervening doors are open. Constituents may meet their Members of Parliament here, even without an appointment,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/architecture/palace-s-interiors/central-lobby/ |title=Architecture of the Palace: Central Lobby |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=5 August 2010}}</ref> and this practice is the origin of the term ''[[lobbying]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/82529.stm |title=Lobbying |date=1 October 2008 |work=BBC News |access-date=21 January 2010}}</ref> The hall is also the theatre of the Speaker's Procession, which passes from here on its way to the Commons Chamber before every sitting of the House.

The Central Lobby measures {{Convert|18|m|ft}} across and {{Convert|23|m|ft}} from the floor to the centre of the vaulted ceiling.<ref name="Factsheet G11" /> The panels between the vault's ribs are covered with Venetian glass [[mosaic]] displaying floral emblems and heraldic badges, and the bosses in the intersections of the ribs are also carved into heraldic symbols.<ref>[[#Guide|''Guide to the Palace of Westminster'']], pp. 53–54.</ref> Each wall of the Lobby is contained in an arch ornamented with statues of English and Scottish monarchs; on four sides there are doorways, and the [[Tympanum (architecture)|tympana]] above them are adorned with mosaics representing the patron saints of the United Kingdom's constituent nations: [[Saint George]] for England, [[Saint Andrew]] for Scotland, [[Saint David]] for Wales and [[Saint Patrick]] for Ireland.{{#tag:ref|The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] included all of Ireland until the [[Irish Free State]]'s creation in 1922. Decorative references to Ireland exist throughout the Palace of Westminster and include symbols like the [[Irish harp]] and the [[shamrock]]. The saints' mosaics were planned from 1847, but Robert Anning Bell's design for Ireland was completed in 1924 and reflects the [[Partition of Ireland|1920–22 partition]], with Saint Patrick flanked by [[Saint Columba]] over the [[arms of Ulster]] for [[Northern Ireland]], and [[Saint Brigid]] over the [[arms of Ireland]] for the Free State.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/art-in-parliament/online-exhibitions/the-palace-of-westminster-and-its-history/national-patron-saints/st-patrick-and-ireland/|title=St Patrick and Ireland|work=Official website|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=2 January 2016}}</ref>|group=note}} The other four arches are occupied by high windows, under which there are stone screens—the hall's post office, one of two in the palace, is located behind one of these screens. In front of them stand four bigger-than-life statues of 19th-century statesmen, including one of four-time prime minister [[William Gladstone]].<ref name="Central Lobby tour" /> The floor on which they stand is tiled with Minton encaustic tiles in intricate patterns and includes a passage from [[s:Bible, King James, Psalms#Psalm 127|Psalm 127]] written in Latin, which translates as follows: "Except the Lord build the House their labour is but lost that build it".<ref>[[#Wilson|Wilson (2005)]], p. 19.</ref>

The East Corridor leads from the Central Lobby to the Lower Waiting Hall, and its six panels remained blank until 1910, when they were filled with scenes from Tudor history.<ref>[[#Wilson|Wilson (2005)]], p. 20.</ref> They were all paid for by [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] peers and each was the work of a different artist, but uniformity was achieved between the frescoes thanks to a common colour palette of red, black and gold and a uniform height for the depicted characters. One of the scenes is probably not historical: ''[[Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens]]'', depicting the origin of these flowers as emblems of the [[House of Lancaster|Houses of Lancaster]] and [[House of York|York]] respectively, was taken from Shakespeare's play ''[[Henry VI, Part 1]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/worksofart/artwork/henry-arthur-payne/plucking-the-red-and-white-roses-in-the-old-temple-gardens/2593 |title=Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=5 August 2010}}</ref>