There's a lot that might be said under this heading and four overlapping associations with the phrase. The one is of the 500 years for which there was here the major residence in London of a series of monarchs who ruled by divine right and were surrounded by supporting domestic offices and court officials. Of the buildings that contained those overlords and underlings there are only slight visible remnants, excepting the magnificent Westminster Hall and the Jewel Tower. A second is the piece-meal development of the site over the next 300 years (1512-1834) between two great fires. That development muddled through prevarication, vested interests, corrupt practice, committee rule and other disabling features of the organisations involved. This resulted in the provision of an exquisitely inadequate setting for the legislative and judicial activities that occurred here during that time. The third association is with the structure and history of the present set of buildings generally referred to as 'The Houses of Parliament'. Here are the debating chambers, committee rooms and other requirements of the parliamentarians (bars, tea rooms, libraries, dining rooms and bars). It is the riverside frontage of the Houses of Parliament that is possibly the most widely recognised icon for the United Kingdom. It may not be entirely the desired image at present because they are a thoroughly Victorian construction built to provide a very grand setting for those who chanced to govern a global empire of those they considered fortunate to be governed by them. The fourth association is with the millennium of events occurring within those Victorian and previous buildings, involving many men of renown, or not, and a few women. Their actions in those events affected the lives of billions of men and women. A number of pages on this web-site give details of various past and present buildings in the Palace and of a few of the events.

O/S Co-ords:3030.7950
Source(s):

Westminster Palace and Parliament

The King's England London: The City and Westminster