The beautiful large window on our left originally formed the south end of Westminster Hall, but was moved back to its present position by Sir Charles Barry, so as to incorporate Westminster Hall in his new building. Westminster Hall (open free daily 10-4, except Sunday; closed at 2 p.m. when the Commons are sitting) is entered either from St. Stephen's Porch or from New Palace Yard. This venerable and beautiful hall, originally built by William II. in 1097, but altered and enlarged by his successors, received its present form, and more especially its magnificent oaken Roof, from Richard II. in 1399. From the 13th century until 1882 the chief English law courts sat at Westminster Hall, at first in the hall itself, afterwards in buildings erected for the purpose on the west side. The portion of the hall not occupied by the courts was a public resort and in the 17th and 18th century contained numerous hucksters' stalls. When the judges migrated to the New Law Courts in 1882 the old courts were pulled down and the original west facade of the hall, as left by Richard II., was restored or rebuilt by J. L. Pearson. The hall is 290 feet long, 68 feet wide, and 92 feet high. Westminster Hall is perhaps specially memorable as the scene of the condemnation of Charles I. in 1649. A brass tablet on the steps at the south end marks the spot where the king sat during his trial. But it has witnessed many other historic events and grave state-trials. Here Edward II. abdicated in 1327, and, by the irony of fate, Richard II., the builder of the hall, was here deposed in 1399, soon after its completion. In 1653, Oliver Cromwell was here installed as Lord Protector. The coronation banquets were held in this hall, down to the time of George IV.; and here the bodies of Gladstone (1898) and Edward VII. (1910) lay in state. Amongst those who have been condemned to death in this hall were William Wallace, the Scottish hero (1305), Lord Cobham, leader of the Lollards (1417), Sir Thomas More, the saintly Chancellor (1535), Sir Thomas Wyatt, leader of a rebellion against Mary (1554), the Earl of Essex, once the favourite of Elizabeth (1601), Guy Fawkes (1606), and Strafford (1641). The famous trial in this hall of the Seven Bishops for opposing the illegal dispensing power of James II. ended in acquittal (1687), and here Warren Hastings also was acquitted (1795) of a charge of corruption after a trial that lasted over seven years. The last public trial in the hall itself was that of Lord Melville for malversation in 1806. Beneath the great window is the War Memorial of Members and Officers of both Houses of Parliament, and of their sons, by Sir B. Mackennal (1922). A lengthy restoration of the roof, rendered imperative by the ravages of the death-watch beetle (xestobium tessellatum) was completed in 1923; and some of the damaged timbers are shown at the south end of the hall. A new steel framework was provided, which is, however, practically invisible from the floor. Some ancient tennis balls, 'skied' in long-past games, were found behind the joists. A door near the south-east angle of Westminster Hall leads into ST. STEPHEN'S CRYPT, the ancient crypt of St. Stephen's Chapel, now known also as the church of St. Mary Undercroft. This crypt, with its finely groined vaulting retaining most of the original bosses, has been restored and richly decorated and is still occasionally used for christenings and marriages in the families of M.P.s. Another modern doorway on the east side of Westminster Hall opens upon the beautiful St. Stephen's Cloisters, built by Henry VIII., with a fan-tracery ceiling little inferior to that of Henry VII.'s Chapel. A small oratory or chapel projecting from the west walk is traditionally said to be the place where the death-warrant of Charles I. was signed. The cloisters are now used as a members' cloak-room and are not open to the public. The members' entrance from New Palace Yard is by a side-door to the east of Westminster Hall. A staircase ascends to the Upper Cloisters, which have been almost entirely rebuilt.
