4. THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
STATION : Westminster on the District Railway. - OMNIBUSES: Nos. 3, 11, 12, 24, 29, 32, 53, 59, 76, 77, 88, etc. TRAMWAYS: Nos. 26 (from Blackfriars Bridge), 33, 35 (from Holborn), and 38, 40, 56, 62, and others from the south, crossing Westminster Bridge.
Admission to the debates in the House of Commons may be obtained on application at the Admission Order Office in St. Stephen's Hall after 4.15 p.m. (after 12.15 p.m. on Friday), or by an order from a member. The entrance then is by St. Stephen's Porch. Ladies are admitted only by an order from a member, and enter through New Palace Yard. When the House of Lords is sitting as a Court of Appeal it is open to the public; but for admission to the debates a peer's order is required. The House of Commons usually meets on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 2.45 p.m., on Friday at 11 a.m. After prayers and 'questions' addressed to ministers, public business begins about 4 p.m. and lasts until 11 p.m., unless the 11 o'clock order be suspended or the business be of a special character. On Friday, generally devoted to private members' bills, questions are not usually asked and the House rises at 5 or 5.30 p.m. There is now no recognized 'dinner-hour' but between 8.30 and 10 p.m. the proceedings are apt to languish. Visitors should obtain the 'order paper' or official programme from a 'messenger.' The House of Lords usually meets about 4.30 p.m. and rarely has protracted sittings.
The Houses of Parliament, or New Palace of Westminster, a stately and extensive pile in a rich late-Gothic style, rise close to the Thames on a low-lying site that somewhat impairs the full dignity of their effect. But with their imposing towers, their pinnacles and turrets, and their oriels, statues, and other rich external decorations, they provide a noble home for the 'Mother of Parliaments.' The building, which incorporates the ancient Westminster Hall and the crypt and cloisters of St. Stephen's Chapel, was designed by Sir Charles Barry, and was built in 1840-50 at a cost of nearly �3,000,000. Augustus Pugin provided many of the detail drawings. The edifice covers 8 acres and has 11 courtyards, 100 staircases, 1100 apartments, and 2 miles of passages. Besides the House of Commons and its offices, in the north half, and the House of Lords, in the south half, it contains the dwellings of various parliamentary officials (including the Speaker). The west front is interrupted by Westminster Hall, which stands between New Palace Yard and Old Palace Yard; but the east, or river facade, extends unbroken for a length of 940 feet, and is preceded by a terrace on the river, 700 feet long. This long facade (best seen from the river) is embellished with the statues and royal arms of British sovereigns from William the Conqueror to Victoria, while figures of the earlier English kings, from the Heptarchy to the Conquest, appear on the short north front. Of the three towers, the tallest and the finest is the noble Victoria Tower (336 feet high; 75 feet square), at the south-west angle, said to be the loftiest square tower in existence. The archway, 60 feet high, below this tower, is the royal entrance to the building. The Central Spire rises above the Central Hall and serves also as a ventilating shaft. The finial of the Clock Tower is 320 feet from the ground. The clock, an authoritative time-keeper, has four dials, each 23 feet square; the figures are 2 foot high; and the minute-hands are 14 foot long. The hours are struck upon 'Big Ben,' a bell weighing 13+ tons, named after Sir Benjamin Hall, First Commissioner of Works when it was hung. Offenders committed by the House of Commons to the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms are confined in this tower. A flag on the Victoria Tower by day and a light in the Clock Tower by night indicate that the House is sitting.
