Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT
Parliament Square Westminster 020 7219 3000,
www.parliament.uk
.
MAP
Also known as the
Palace of Westminster
, the Houses of Parliament are one of London's
best-known monuments and the ultimate symbol of a nation once confident of its place at
the centre of the world. The city's finest example of Victorian Gothic Revival, the complex
is distinguished above all by the ornate, gilded clock-tower popularly known as
Big Ben
,
after the thirteen-ton main bell that strikes the hour (and is broadcast across the airwaves by
the BBC).
The original medieval palace burnt to the ground in 1834, but
Westminster Hall
survived,
and its huge oak hammerbeam roof -and sheer scale - make it one of the most magnificent
secular medieval halls in Europe; you get a glimpse of it en route to the public galleries. For
centuries, the hall housed England's highest court of law and witnessed the trials of, among
others, William Wallace, Guy Fawkes and Charles I.
To watch the proceedings in either the House of Commons or the Lords, simply join the
queue for the
public galleries
(known as Strangers' Galleries) outside St Stephen's Gate.
The public is let in slowly (from 4pm Mon & Tues, 1pm Wed, noon Thurs, 10am Fri); se-
curity checks are tight, and the whole procedure can take an hour or more. To avoid the
queues, turn up an hour or more later, when the crowds have usually thinned; call 020
7219 4272 to check that the place is open.
To see
Question Time
(Mon 2.30pm, Tues-Thurs 11.30am), when the House is at its most
raucous and entertaining, UK citizens must book a ticket several weeks in advance from
their local MP.
Throughout the year there are weekly
guided tours
(every Sat) with daily ones in the sum-
mer (Easter & Aug Mon-Sat; £16.50; 0844 847 1672), in which visitors get to walk
through the two chambers, see some of the state rooms and admire Westminter Hall. All
year round UK residents are entitled to a free tour of the palace, as well as up Big Ben; both
need to be organized through your local MP.
