This Chapel lay under Saint Stephen's chapel and is a relic of the Norman Palace of Westminster. It was incorporated by Sir Charles Barry into the present Houses of Parliament beneath Saint Stephen's Hall. Who exactly built what and when in the name of Saint Stephen is a subject of rather heated debate by those who have opinions justified by thorough knowledge of the subject. Certainly a chapel was built in the 12th century by Edward the Confessor's grandson Stephen (about 1097 - 1154) and dedicated to his namesake saint. Whether it is of that chapel that the Undercroft is a relic or of a later building started by Edward I (1239-1307) and completed by Edward III (1312-77) is not certain. In the fire of 1834 when a large part of the Palace of Westminster was severely damaged, Saint Stephen's Chapel which was by then the House of Commons was almost totally destroyed. Although Sir Charles had ensured that the Undercroft was incorporated in the new Houses of Parliament, it was his son Edward who supervised the dazzling redecoration as part of the works for which he was responsible after his father's death in 1860. Patrick Cormack in 'Westminster Palace and Parliament' includes a very enthusiastic description of the chapel which includes the following.

'The 'Crypt Chapel', as it is generally known, has had a chequered history. It saw service as a cellar and as a stables, and was used for many years as the Speaker's State Dining Rooms, his Chair being immediately beneath his chair in the Chamber (the position of that and of the table of the House are marked by brass studs in the floor of St Stephen's Hall above).
The Crypt's restoration to religious use and full beauty is perhaps the greatest of Edward Barry's achievements. Realising that here was one of the gems of medieval architecture, with its superb lierne vaulting (a pattern of non-structural ribs joining the main ones to form star-shaped and other patterns) he determined to make it one of the loveliest features of the Palace. It had escaped serious structural damage during the fire, although the stone was badly calcined and needed considerable attention and replacement. However, working in close association with Crace, he concentrated on doing this and on beautifying every inch of stonework with decoration in, so far as he could discover, the tones and colours of the original ornamentation. As it now stands, with its Minton tiled and marble floor, its fine stained glass windows by John Hardman, illustrating the life of St Stephen, and its superb original bosses which depict the martyrdoms of St Stephen, St John, St Catherine, St Laurence and St Margaret, beautifully picked out in gold and colour, it represents perhaps the greatest example of High Victorian Gothic art. Ayrton, the first Commissioner of Works, who dismissed Barry, reckoned it the 'most absolute waste of public money''.

O/S Co-ords:3024.7950
Source(s):

Parliament House - The Chambers of the House of Commons

Westminster Palace and Parliament

This great building at the north-west corner of the Palace of Westminster is the major medieval remnant of the old Palace to be incorporated in the present one. The latter was built between 1835 and 1860 to the designs of Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) in collaboration with August Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52) and as much through the efforts of Barry as anyone else. The building of the old Palace was initiated by Edward the Confessor (born between 1002 and 1005 died 05/01/1066) as a residence where he could supervise the building of the Abbey. The Hall was built for his son William Rufus (about 1056 - 1100). Completed in 1099 it was then and is now a very impressive size with a length of 239ft 6ins, breadth of 67ft 6ins and walls that were 20ft high to a gallery and small rounded Norman windows. Rufus however was a disappointed man. He thought it 'a mere bed-chamber compared with what I intended to build.' His successors are likely to have embellished the building but apparently by the time of Richard II (1377 - 1400) some major repair work was required. The plan of the building was probably that of a typical medieval hall with an open hearth centrally toward the north end, away from the door, from which the smoke would, mostly, be vented through a hole in the ridge of the roof. That roof was supported by two rows of large wooden pillars along the length of the building. These would have detracted from the spaciousness of the place, and complicated the practical arrangements of seating for the assemblies, whether feasts or meetings of the king with his noble councillors. Anyway, for whatever reasons, Richard II required his craftsmen to enhance it dramatically. The two major craftsmen involved were Henry Yevele, a mason, and Hugh Herland, a carpenter. These two were responsible for what is now here. Between 1394 and 1399 they replaced the old roof with one that was higher and more steeply pitched. That is supported by an intricate, timber, hammer-beam structure springing from higher, buttressed walls pierced by windows, that replaced the rounded Norman ones, each with two lights in a gothic arch. This is the building that has survived the fires that destroyed much of the rest of the Palace in 1512 and 1834 as well as bombs from the Irish, in 1885, and from the Germans, in 1941. Barry's incorporation of it into the new buildings for the Houses of Parliament has probably enhanced it from its status before 1834. It received a general sympathetic refurbishment and the only major alteration was the moving of the south window to the other side of Saint Stephen's porch (between the Saint Stephen's entrance to the Palace and Saint Stephen's hall). This has however allowed for the creation of a very grand stage setting for ceremonies when the members of both Houses can be seated in the body of the hall.
By the end of the 12th century the general usage of the hall had become judicial. The famed Magna Carta of 1215 includes a provision requiring that those lawsuits to be heard by the Royal justices should be heard here rather than by some body attendant on the king wherever he happened to have wandered. This was the Court of Common Pleas dealing with civil disputes. The title 'court' derives from the concept that when before the King's Justices you were effectively in the presence of the monarch. By the end of the 14th century: the Court of Chancery (dealing with the legal business of the Chancellor or king's secretary) was in the south-west corner; the King's Bench (for serious criminal cases) in the south-east; Common pleas at the centre of the west wall; and the Exchequer (which had legal business associated with its duties of revenue collection and expenditure) had a court at the northern end of the hall with offices on each side which were entered from it. This accumulation of legal business expanded through the centuries and flowed out into a morass of buildings to the west of the hall. Those were demolished when the new courts in the Strand were opened in 1882. Another feature of the halls judicial usage has been that it has been the setting for many, many 'state trials'. Almost entirely through to the end of the 17th century these were show trials with pre-determined convictions. One of the earliest, in 1305, was of the Scot William Wallace (c 1274 - 1305) of whom Edward I (1239-1307) wished to make an example. The example was brutal. The quarters of Wallace's body were dispersed to Newcastle, Berwick, Sterling and Perth. Perhaps the two most famous trials were those that ended the lives of Sir and Saint Thomas More (1478-1535) and of Charles I (1600-1649). One of the extraordinary features of both these defendants is that there reported remarks and speeches are so composed and effective as they face unjust execution within days. The penultimate trial, in 1788-95, was the impeachment of Warren Hastings (1754-1826). This ruined both the defendant, although he was found innocent of all the charges, and his chief prosecutor Edmund Burke (1729-97), because of the failure of his prosecution (despite his opening speech being judged by some as being a masterpiece of English eloquence). One of the many who attended this long running piece of theatre described the MP's there as looking 'so little like gentlemen and so much like hairdressers.' By the 16th century, stalls and shops were set up between the courts and by the early 18th a visitor reported being 'surprised to see in the same place, men on the one side with baubles and toys, and on the other taken up with the fear of judgement, on which depends their inevitable destiny.'
Whilst its general usage might have been judicial and retail there have been various other events that have frequently required the removal of the pews, benches, tables, stalls, etc. These events have been state occasions of three main types. There were during its first three hundred years some meetings of the King and his council and on 19/05/1275 the first parliament to include representatives of communities across England (the Commons) as well as the Lords. However, feasting has been a much more frequent reason for clearing out the day-to-day residents. Quite often in the first five hundred years there were feasts held at the time of major Christian religious festivals when the King was in residence. The grandest feasts may have been those coincident with Coronations from the time when Henry II (1133-89) insisted on his son (who pre-deceased him) being crowned during his own lifetime to that of George IV (1762-1830) on 19/07/1821. The tradition of these was that the king went from the Hall to the Abbey to be crowned and then returned to the hall for the feast. A feature of these celebrations was the arrival of the King's Champion to challenge anyone to question the monarch's right to the throne. He was on horseback with attendant Earl Marshal and High Constable of England and unfortunately, particularly latterly, the horses and/or horsemen involved were not always adept in performing this ritual with the dignity intended. The consumption at these gatherings was generally gargantuan. Reportedly, in 1274 at Edward I's the bill of fare presented: 440 oxen and cows; 430 sheep; 430 pigs; 16 fat boars; 278 flitches of bacon; 460 capons; and an unstated quantity of game and poultry. At least reports of George IV's event lists 160 dishes of vegetables as being provided from the total expenditure on the coronation of £243,390.6s.2d. During the last one hundred years there has been a new usage of this hall. Starting with Gladstone in 1898 there has developed the custom of having various dignitaries lying in state here. These have included Edward VII (1841-1910), George V (1865-1936), George VI (1895-1952) and Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965). No lady yet.

O/S Co-ords:3021.7953
Source(s):

Westminster Palace and Parliament

Chambers Biographical Dictionary