ABSTRACT
Throughout this period, the two houses of Parliament met in different parts of the ‘Palace of Westminster’ – an aggregation of buildings of various dates stretching back to pre-Conquest times which, as the name implies, had once been the royal residence. Its evolution therefore resembled that of the constitution itself. The Lords met in ‘a simple apartment’ with a largely mediaeval interior that was little changed between the Restoration and the Union with Ireland in 1801. The throne and the woolsack were placed at one end, the benches facing them were painted red, and dormer windows placed in the barrelled ceiling that concealed the mediaeval roof provided light. With a floor space of 70 feet by 24 feet 6 inches, it was capable of easily accommodating the 160 or so peers at the start of King William’s reign.1 The Commons, on the other hand, met in a space that although it was part of a much more distinguished building architecturally, was far less suited to their full number of 513, soon to be augmented to 558 by the union with Scotland. Since 1550 this had been in St Stephen’s Chapel, the upper story of a church finished in 1348, the main part of which had been converted by 1700 into a chamber approximately 57 feet long, 33 feet wide and 30 feet high – a significantly smaller space than that occupied by the Lords. The conversions had begun in 1692 under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, leaving it by about 1710 in a state that was largely unchanged until it burnt down in 1834. The Speaker’s chair was placed on the original alter steps at the east end with four rows of benches painted green on each of the side walls and running behind the Speaker – three of these being the original Collegiate stalls. The walls had been panelled in wood, painted brown, and galleries erected on each side.2
Overall, both chambers were more functional than grand and much less imposing than Westminster Hall, the largest building in the Palace complex, which housed the four principal Courts of Law and was otherwise used for grand state occasions, including state trials.
