ABSTRACT
This paper examines how parliamentarians, and MPs in particular, used the buildings at Westminster, including the major spaces associated with formal proceedings in Parliament: the Painted Chamber, where Parliament was usually opened in the Middle Ages; the White Chamber, where the peers regularly sat until 1801; and the various places where the Commons met before settling in St Stephen’s Chapel, namely the Painted Chamber itself, the Lesser Hall, Westminster Abbey chapter-house, and the refectory. How MPs debated in these meeting places and how they and others regarded their work is also considered, as is the role of Westminster Hall in parliamentary or quasi-parliamentary proceedings. But MPs did not spend all their time in formal session during a parliament. They required accommodation and places to eat and be entertained. As the paper discusses, Westminster was amply provided with inns and other buildings to provide for these needs.
