Editing Palace of Westminster (section)

== Exterior ==
{{Multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| header            = River front of the Palace of Westminster
| width             = 300
| image1            = London Parliament 2007-1.jpg
| alt1              = Photograph
| caption1          = View from across the Thames in the morning...
| image2            = Palace of Westminster, London - Feb 2007.jpg
| alt2              = Photograph
| caption2          = ...and at dusk. [[Portcullis House]] is visible on the right.
}}

[[Charles Barry]]'s collaborative design for the Palace of Westminster uses the [[Perpendicular Gothic]] style, which was popular during the 15th century and returned during the [[Gothic revival]] of the 19th century. Barry was a [[Classical architecture|classical architect]], but he was aided by the Gothic architect [[Augustus Pugin]]. Westminster Hall, which was built in the 11th century and survived the fire of 1834, was incorporated in Barry's design. Pugin was displeased with the result of the work, especially with the symmetrical layout designed by Barry; he famously remarked, "All Grecian, sir; Tudor details on a classic body".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3575/is_1248_209/ai_72302588/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708171811/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3575/is_1248_209/ai_72302588/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 July 2012 |title=Commons Sense |last=Devey |first=Peter |date=February 2001 |magazine=The Architectural Review |access-date=3 December 2009}}</ref>

=== Stonework ===
In 1839 Charles Barry toured Britain, looking at quarries and buildings, with a committee which included two leading geologists and a stonecarver.<ref name="stonework">[http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/architecture/palacestructure/the-stonework/ UK Parliament website "stonework" page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502114640/http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/architecture/palacestructure/the-stonework/ |date=2 May 2015 }} Accessed 4 January 2014.</ref>  They selected Anston, a sand-coloured magnesian [[limestone]] quarried in the villages of [[Anston]], [[South Yorkshire]], and [[Mansfield Woodhouse]], [[Nottinghamshire]].<ref name="Factsheet G11">{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/g11.pdf |title=The Palace of Westminster |date=May 2009 |publisher=House of Commons Information Office |access-date=5 August 2010}}</ref>  Two quarries were chosen from a list of 102, with the majority of the stone coming from the former. A crucial consideration was transport, achieved on water via the [[Chesterfield Canal]], the North Sea and the rivers [[River Trent|Trent]] and Thames.<ref>Richardson, Christine (2007). ''Yorkshire Stone to London: To Create the Houses of Parliament''. Richlow Histories. {{ISBN|1-870002-95-4}}.</ref>  Furthermore, Anston was cheaper, and "could be supplied in blocks up to four feet thick and lent itself to elaborate carving".<ref name="stonework" />
[[File:Big Ben from the Westminster Bridge.jpg|thumb|View from the Westminster Bridge, highlighting the distinctive colour of the stonework]]
Barry's new Palace of Westminster was rebuilt using the sandy-coloured Anston limestone. However the stone soon began to decay owing to pollution and the poor quality of some of the stone used. Although such defects were clear as early as 1849, nothing was done for the remainder of the 19th century even after much studying.<ref>{{cite book|title=Appletons' annual cyclopaedia and register of important events of the year: 1862|year=1863|publisher=D. Appleton & Company|location=New York|page=201 |url=https://archive.org/stream/1862appletonsan02newyuoft#page/n208/mode/1up}}</ref> During the 1910s, however, it became clear that some of the stonework had to be replaced. In 1928 it was deemed necessary to use [[Clipsham stone]], a honey-coloured limestone from [[Rutland]], to replace the decayed Anston. The project began in the 1930s but was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War and completed only during the 1950s. By the 1960s pollution had again begun to take its toll. A stone conservation and restoration programme to the external elevations and towers began in 1981 and ended in 1994.<ref name="Factsheet G12">{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/g12.pdf |title=Restoration of the Palace of Westminster: 1981–94 |date=August 2003 |publisher=House of Commons Information Office |access-date=5 August 2010}}</ref>

=== Towers ===
==== Victoria Tower ====
{{Main articles|Victoria Tower}}
[[File:Palace of Westminster Victoria Tower Gardens South 2020 Tower.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|The Victoria Tower]]
The Palace of Westminster has three main towers. The largest and tallest is the {{Convert|98.5|m|ft|adj=on}}<ref name="Factsheet G11" /> Victoria Tower, which occupies the south-western corner of the palace. The tower was an integral part of Barry's original design, and he intended it to be the most memorable element, conceiving it as the [[keep]] of a legislative "castle". The tower was redesigned several times, and its height increased progressively;<ref>[[#Port|Port (1976)]], pp. 76, 109; [[#Riding|Riding and Riding (2000)]], p. 116.</ref> upon its completion in 1858 it was <!-- the second-tallest building in London (after [[St Paul's Cathedral]]) and --> the tallest secular building in the world.<ref>[[#Quinault|Quinault (1991)]], p. 81.</ref>

At base of the tower is the Sovereign's Entrance, used by the monarch whenever entering the palace to [[State Opening of Parliament|open Parliament]] or for other state occasions. The {{cvt|15|m|ft}} high archway is richly decorated with sculptures, including statues of [[Saint George|Saints George]], [[Saint Andrew|Andrew]] and [[Saint Patrick|Patrick]], and [[Queen Victoria]].<ref>[[#Fell|Fell and Mackenzie (1994)]], p. 30.</ref> The main body of the tower houses the [[Parliamentary Archives]] in {{Convert|8.8|km|mi}} of steel shelves spread over 12 floors. The archives include the master copies of all [[Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom|Acts of Parliament]] since 1497 and important manuscripts such as the original [[Bill of Rights 1689|Bill of Rights]] and the death warrant of [[Charles I of England|King Charles&nbsp;I]].<ref>[[#Fell|Fell and Mackenzie (1994)]], p. 44.</ref> At the top of the cast-iron pyramidal roof is a {{cvt|22|m|ft}}<ref name="Factsheet G11" /> flagstaff, from which flies the [[Royal Standard of the United Kingdom|Royal Standard]] (the monarch's personal flag) when the Sovereign is present in the palace. On all other days the [[Union Flag]] flies from the mast.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2009-10/1199 |title=Early day motion 1199: Union Flag at Parliament |publisher=UK Parliament |date=29 March 2010 |access-date=19 November 2016}}</ref>

==== Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower) ====
{{Main articles|Big Ben}}
[[File:Elizabeth Tower, June 2022.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|The Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben)]]
At the north end of the palace is the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known by the nickname "Big Ben". At {{convert|96|m|ft}} it is only slightly shorter than the Victoria Tower, but much slimmer.<ref name="Factsheet G11" /> It was called the Clock Tower until 2012, when it was renamed to celebrate the [[Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II]]. The Clock Tower was designed by [[Augustus Pugin]] and built after his death. Charles Barry asked Pugin to design the clock tower because Pugin had previously helped Barry design the palace.<ref name="Taylor_BBC_Four">{{Cite episode |series=Pugin |title=God's Own Architect |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b1z45 |access-date=7 May 2021 |first=Richard |last=Taylor |author-link=Richard Taylor (British writer) |network=BBC Four |date=19 January 2012 |minutes=54 |language=English}}</ref>

The tower houses the Great Clock, which uses the original mechanism built by [[Edward John Dent]] to designs by amateur [[horologist]] [[Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe|Edmund Beckett Denison]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-ben/building-clock-tower/building-great-clock|title=Building the Great Clock|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=14 May 2010}}</ref> It is highly accurate by nineteenth-century standards, striking the hour to within a second of the time, and remaining reliable since it entered service in 1859.<ref>[[#Macdonald|Macdonald (2004)]], pp. xiii–xiv.</ref> The time is shown on four dials {{Convert|7|m|ft|0}} in diameter, which are made of [[milk glass]] and are lit from behind at night; the hour hand is {{Convert|2.7|m}} long and the minute hand {{Convert|4.3|m}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-ben/facts-figures/great-clock-facts|title=Great Clock facts|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=14 May 2010}}</ref> 

Five bells hang in the [[Belfry (architecture)|belfry]] above the clock. The four quarter bells strike the [[Westminster Chimes]] every quarter-hour.<ref>[[#Fell|Fell and Mackenzie (1994)]], pp. 24, 26.</ref> The largest bell strikes the hours; officially called the "Great Bell", it is generally referred to as Big Ben, a nickname of uncertain origins which, over time, has been applied to the whole tower. The original hour bell cracked during testing and was recast;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-ben/building-clock-tower/great-bell|title=The Great Bell – Big Ben|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=14 May 2010}}</ref> the present bell later developed a crack of its own, which gives it a distinctive sound.<ref>[[#Macdonald|Macdonald (2004)]], pp. xvi–xvii, 50.</ref> It is the third-heaviest bell in Britain, weighing 13.8 tonnes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/big-ben/facts-figures/great-bell|title=The Great Bell and the quarter bells|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=14 May 2010}}</ref><ref>[[#Macdonald|Macdonald (2004)]], p. 174.</ref> In the lantern at the top of Elizabeth Tower is the Ayrton Light, which is lit when either House of Parliament is sitting after dark. It was installed in 1885 at the request of Queen Victoria, so that she could see from [[Buckingham Palace]] whether the members were "at work", and named after [[Acton Smee Ayrton]], who was [[First Commissioner of Works]] in the 1870s.<ref>[[#Jones|Jones (1983)]], pp. 112–113.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/online-tours/virtualtours/bigben-tour|title=Elizabeth Tower virtual tour|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=15 May 2010}}</ref>

==== Central Tower ====
[[File:Central Tower, Palace of Westminster.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|alt=Photograph|The Central Tower]]

The shortest of the palace's three principal towers (at {{Convert|91|m|ft}}<ref name="Factsheet G11" />), the octagonal Central Tower stands over the middle of the building, immediately above the Central Lobby. It was added to the plans on the insistence of Dr. [[David Boswell Reid]], who was in charge of the ventilation of the new Houses of Parliament: his plan called for a central chimney through which what he called "vitiated air" would be drawn out of the building with the heat and smoke of about four hundred fires around the palace.<ref>[[#Port|Port (1976)]], p. 221; [[#Jones|Jones (1983)]], p. 119.</ref> To accommodate the tower Barry was forced to lower the high ceiling he had planned for the Central Lobby and reduce the height of its windows;<ref>[[#Jones|Jones (1983)]], pp. 108–109; [[#Field|Field (2002)]], p. 189.</ref> however, the tower proved to be an opportunity to improve the palace's exterior design,<ref name="Riding, p. 120">[[#Riding|Riding and Riding (2000)]], p. 120.</ref> and Barry to make it a [[spire]] in order to balance the effect of the more massive lateral towers.<ref>[[#Port|Port (1976)]], p. 103.</ref> The Central Tower completely failed to fulfill its stated purpose, but it remains notable as "the first occasion when mechanical services had a real influence on architectural design,"<ref>{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Peter |title=Changing Ideals in Modern Architecture 1750–1950 |edition=1st |year=1965 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal, Quebec; Kingston, Ontario |page=[https://archive.org/details/changingidealsin00coll/page/238 238] |isbn=978-0-7735-0048-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/changingidealsin00coll/page/238}} cited in [[#Port|Port (1976)]], p. 206.</ref> withstanding certain climate-specific architectural elements such as [[windcatcher]]s.

==== Smaller towers ====
{{Anchor|St Stephen's Tower}}<!--Used by the redirect [[St. Stephen's Tower]]-->Some other features of the palace of Westminster are known as towers. St Stephen's Tower is positioned in the middle of the west front of the palace, between Westminster Hall and Old Palace Yard, and houses the public entrance to the palace.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmcomm/1002/100208.htm |title=Department of the Serjeant at Arms Annual Report 2001–02 |date=2 July 2002 |publisher=House of Commons Commission |access-date=28 April 2010 |quote=St Stephen's Tower: This project involved the renovation and re-modelling of offices on four floors above St Stephen's Entrance.}}</ref> The pavilions at the northern and southern ends of the river front are called Speaker's Tower and Chancellor's Tower respectively,<ref name="Factsheet G12" /> after the presiding officers of the two Houses at the time of the palace's reconstruction—the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]] and the [[Lord Chancellor]]. Speaker's Tower contains [[Speaker's House]], the official residence of the Speaker of the Commons.<ref>[[#Wilson|Wilson (2005)]], p. 32.</ref>

As well as the pinnacles which rise from between the window bays along the fronts of the palace, numerous [[Turret (architecture)|turret]]s enliven the building's skyline. Like the Central Tower these were built for practical reasons, as they mask ventilation shafts.<ref name="Riding, p. 120" />

=== Grounds ===
{{See also|Parliamentary Estate}}
[[File:Statue of Oliver Cromwell outside Palace of Westminster.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Photograph|Cromwell Green, outside Westminster Hall, is the site of [[Hamo Thornycroft]]'s [[Statue of Oliver Cromwell, Westminster|bronze statue of Oliver Cromwell]], erected amid controversy in 1899.<ref>[[#Riding|Riding and Riding (2000)]], p. 268.</ref>]]

There are a number of small gardens surrounding the Palace of Westminster. [[Victoria Tower Gardens]] is open as a public park along the side of the river south of the palace. Black Rod's Garden (named after the office of [[Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod]]) is closed to the public and is used as a private entrance. [[Old Palace Yard]], in front of the palace, is paved over and covered in concrete security blocks (''see [[#Security|security]] below''). Cromwell Green (also on the frontage, and in 2006 enclosed by hoardings for the construction of a new visitor centre), [[New Palace Yard]] (on the north side) and Speaker's Green (directly north of the palace) are all private and closed to the public. [[College Green, London|College Green]], opposite the House of Lords, is a small triangular green commonly used for television interviews with politicians.