• Continue down Whitehall, until you reach the junction with Bridge Street on your left…

 

• Turn very briefly into Bridge Street and look up at the facade of the corner building…

​

There is a green Westminster Council plaque close by celebrating an unsung hero, John Peake Knight, who invented the first form of traffic lights…   ///system.cafe.bits

​

In Parliament Square there are statues of a number of famous world statesmen including Jan Smuts, David Lloyd George, Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill. In 2018 the first state of an important woman was erected here - Millicent Fawcett - the powerful advocate of women’s rights.   ///fees.topped.pushy

​

• Continue across Parliament Square with the Houses of  Parliament, (the Palace of Westminster) on your left…

 

The present Parliament buildings mark the site of England’s first royal palace, built in the 11th century. Until 1512, when a fire destroyed most of the palace, it was the kings’ principal London residence. The main remaining structures are Westminster Hall and the Jewel Tower, both of which you can visit today.  

 

The hall and tower also survived an even greater fire of 1834 and bombing during the Second World War. Reconstruction of the palace started in 1840 and took 30 years to complete. It is built in a perpendicular Gothic style. There were major modifications and renovations in the 1950s. The Clock Tower is better known as Big Ben, after its main bell that rings every 15 minutes and on the hour.  It has featured as the backdrop in many films.

 

Westminster Hall, dating from 1097, has a magnificent hammerbeam roof built during the reign of King Richard II (1377–1399). At various times the huge hall has housed the Royal Courts of Justice, coronations and accompanying banquets, and lyings-in-state of monarchs and national heroes. The largest tower, Victoria Tower, was originally called King’s Tower for William IV, in whose reign it was built (1830–1837). The name was changed when a large statue of Queen Victoria was placed in the Sovereign’s Entrance,  used by the monarch at the State Opening of Parliament each winter.   ///wishes.dragon.spring

 

Outside the Houses of Parliament are statues to Oliver Cromwell from 1899 and of King Richard I, the Lionheart, dating from 1856. Cromwell created the New Model Army often referred to as Roundheads, because of their fashion for wearing close-cropped hair. The longer-haired followers of Charles I were called Cavaliers.