The Palace Of Westminster A Descriptive And Historical Guide

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ISBN 13 : 9781330505298
Total Pages : 108 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (52 download)

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Download or read book Guide to the Palace of Westminster (Classic Reprint) written by and published by . This book was released on 2015-06-30 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Guide to the Palace of Westminster In 1512 there was again a very destructive fire at the Palace of Westminster, from which the Hall and St. Stephen's Chapel, with its Crypts and cloisters, were nearly the only parts that escaped - the ravages of this fire were never repaired. Some buildings were however added by Henry VIII., who is supposed to have erected the famous Star Chamber, so called, says Stow, "from the ceiling being decked with stars, gilt," although portions of this were evidently done at a later time, since a doorway and stairs leading to this once dreaded court existed after the last fire, with the date 1602 over the door. In forming the foundations for the new Palace, many foundations and relics of the old building were discovered, of which accurate drawings have been made; all the work was composed of that excellent rubble masonry for which our old buildings are so remarkable, so that the greatest labour was required for removing the remains, especially the old river wall, extending the entire length of the building, but which was considerably less advanced into the river than that of the new Palace. A plan of the old Palace is engraved in the Vol. 5 of the Vetusta Monumenta, measured in 1823. There is also an interesting one in Smith's History of Westminster. It was, from the consideration of the great amount of traditional and historical interest which attached to the site, that it was, after much deliberation and the consideration of numerous suggestions on the subject, determined to erect the new Palace on the same spot, after the destructive fire in 1834; and at the opening of the ensuing Parliament one of the earliest measures decided upon was, "that a "Select Committee be appointed to consider and report upon such "plans as may be most fitting and convenient for the permanent "accommodation of the Houses of Parliament." It was at first contemplated that the old buildings might be so far retained that, with additions and improvements, the Houses of Parliament might again assemble in them; but, on due consideration, this idea was abandoned. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.