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WESTMINSTER

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 551 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WESTMINSTER , a See also:

part of _ See also:London, See also:England; strictly a See also:city in the administrative See also:county of London, bounded E. by " the City," S. by the See also:river See also:Thames, W by the boroughs of See also:Chelsea and See also:Kensington, and N. by See also:Paddington, St Marylebone and See also:Holborn. Westminster was formed into a See also:borough by the London See also:Government See also:Act of 18J9, and by a royal See also:charter of the 29th of See also:October 'goo it was created a city. The See also:council consists of a See also:mayor, ro aldermen and 6o councillors. The city comprises the See also:parliamentary boroughs of the Strand, Westminster and St See also:George's, See also:Hanover Square, each returning one member. - See also:Area, 2502.7 acres. The City of Westminster, as thus depicted, extends from the western end of See also:Fleet See also:Street to Kensington Gardens, and from See also:Oxford Street to the Thames, which it See also:borders over a distance of 3 m., between See also:Victoria (Chelsea) See also:Bridge and a point below See also:Waterloo Bridge. It thus includes a large number of the finest buildings in London, from the See also:Law Courts in the See also:east to the Imperial See also:Institute in the See also:west, See also:Buckingham and St See also:James's palaces, the See also:National See also:Gallery, and most of the greatest residences of the wealthy classes. But the name of Westminster is more generally associated with a more confined area, namely, the See also:quarter which includes the See also:Abbey, the Houses of See also:Parliament, the government and other buildings in See also:Whitehall, the See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:Cathedral, and the parts immediately adjacent to these. Westminster Abbey.—The Abbey of St See also:Peter is the most widely celebrated See also:church in the See also:British See also:empire. The Thames, bordered in See also:early times by a See also:great expanse of fen on either See also:hand from Chelsea and See also:Battersea downward, Tradition washed, at the point where the Abbey stands, one hnd istory. See also:shore of a See also:low See also:island perhaps three-quarters of a mile in circumference, known as Thorney or Bramble islet. Tributary streams from the See also:north formed channels through the See also:marsh, flanking the island north and See also:south, and were once connected by a dyke on the west.

These channels belonged to the See also:

Tyburn, which flowed from the high ground of See also:Hampstead. See also:Relics of the Roman occupation have been excavated in the former island, and it is supposed that See also:traffic on the Watling Street, from See also:Dover to See also:Chester, crossed the Thames and the marshes by way of Thorney before the construction of London Bridge; the road continuing north-west in the See also:line .of the See also:modern See also:Park See also:Lane (partly) and Edgware Road. Tradition places on the island a See also:temple of See also:Apollo, which was destroyed by an See also:earthquake in the reign of the See also:emperor See also:Antoninus See also:Pius. On the site See also:King See also:Lucius is said to have founded a church (c. A.D. 170). The irruption of the See also:Saxons See also:left Thorney desolate. Traditional still, but supported by greater See also:probability, a See also:story states that Sebert. 550 king of the East Saxons, having taken part in the See also:foundation of St See also:Paul's Cathedral, restored or refounded the church at Thorney " to the See also:honour of See also:God and St Peter, on the west See also:side of the City of London " (See also:Stow). A splendid See also:legend relates the coming of St Peter in See also:person to hallow his new church. The sons of Sebert relapsed into See also:idolatry and left the church to the See also:mercy of the Danes. A charter of See also:Offa, king of See also:Mercia (785), deals with the See also:conveyance of certain See also:land to the monastery of St Peter; and King See also:Edgar restored the church, clearly defining by a charter dated 951 (not certainly genuine) the boundary of Westminster, which may be indicated in modern terms as extending from the See also:Marble See also:Arch south to the Thames and east to the City boundary, the former river Fleet.

Westminster was a See also:

Benedictine foundation. In ro5o See also:Edward the See also:Confessor took up the erection of a magnificent new church, cruciform, with a central and two western towers. Its See also:building continued after his See also:death, but it was consecrated on Childermas See also:Day, 28th See also:December io65; and on the following " twelfth See also:mass See also:eve " the king died, being buried next day in the church. In 1245 See also:Henry III. set about the rebuilding of the church east of the See also:nave, and at this point it becomes necessary to describe the building as it now appears. Westminster Abbey is a cruciform structure consisting of nave with aisles, transepts with aisles (but in the south See also:transept The the See also:place of the western See also:aisle is occupied by the church. eastern See also:cloister walk), and See also:choir of polygonal apsidal See also:form, with six chapels (four polygonal) opening north and south of it, and an eastern See also:Lady See also:Chapel, known as Henry VII.'s chapel. There are two western towers, but in the centre a low square See also:tower hardly rises above the See also:pitch of the roof. The See also:main entrance in See also:common use is that in the north transept. The See also:chapter-See also:house, cloisters and other conventual buildings and remains See also:lie to the south. The See also:total length of the church (exterior) is 531 ft. and of the transepts 203 ft. in all. The breadth of the na•,e without the aisles is 38 ft. 7 in. and its height See also:close upon 102 It. These dimensions are very slightly lessened in the choir.

Without, viewed from the open Parliament Square to the north, the beautiful proportions of the building are readily realized, but it is somewhat dwarfed by the See also:

absence of a central tower and by the vast adjacent See also:pile of the Houses of Parliament. From this point (considered as a building merely) it appears only as a secondary unit in a magnificent See also:group. Seen from the west, however, it is the dominant unit, but here it is impossible to overlook the imperfect conception of the " See also:Gothic See also:humour " (as he himself termed it) manifested by See also:Wren, from whose designs the western towers were completed in 1740. The north front, called See also:Solomon's See also:Porch from a former porch over the main entrance, is from the designs of See also:Sir G. G. See also:Scott, considerably altered by J. L. See also:Pearson. Within, the Abbey is a superb example of the pointed See also:style. The See also:body of the church has a remarkable See also:appearance of uniformity, because, although the building of the new nave was continued with intermissions from the 14th See also:century until Tudor times, the broad See also:design of the Early See also:English See also:work in the eastern part of the church was carried on throughout. The choir, with its unusual form and radiating chapels, plainly follows See also:French See also:models, but the name of the architect is lost. Exquisite See also:ornament is seen in the See also:triforium See also:arcade, and between some of the See also:arches in the transept are figures, especially finely carved, though much mutilated, known as the censing angels.

Henry VII.'s Chapel replaces an earlier Lady Chapel, and is the most remarkable building of its See also:

period. It comprises a nave with aisles, and an apsidal eastward end formed of five small radiating chapels. Both within and without it is ornamented with an extraordinary See also:wealth and minuteness of detail. A splendid See also:series of carved See also:oak stalls lines each side of the nave, and above them hang the See also:banners of the Knights of the See also:Bath, of whom this was the place of See also:installation when the See also:Order was re-constituted in 1725. The See also:fan-traceried roof, with its carved See also:stone pendants, is the most exquisite architectural feature of the chapel. The choir stalls in the body of the church` are modern, as is the See also:organ, a See also:fine See also:instrument with- an " See also:echo " See also:attachment, electrically connected, in the triforium of the south transept. The See also:reredos is by Sir G. G. Scott, with See also:mosaic by Salviati. In See also:Abbot See also:Islip's chapel there is a series of See also:effigies in See also:wax, representing monarchs and others. The earliest, which is well preserved, is of See also:Charles Il., but remnants of older figures survive. Some of the effigies were carried in funeral processions according to See also:custom, but this was not done later than 1735.

There are, however, figures of See also:

Lord See also:Chatham and See also:Nelson,set up by the officials who received the fees formerly paid by visitors to the See also:exhibition. But the See also:peculiar fame of the Abbey lies not in its See also:architecture, nor in its connexion with the See also:metropolis alone, but in the fact that it has See also:long been the place of the See also:coronation of sovereigns Cereand the See also:burial-place of many of them and of their greatest mo subjects. The See also:original See also:reason for this was the reverence andnies moan• attaching to the memory of the Confessor, whose See also:shrine meats. stands in the central chapel behind the high See also:altar. The See also:Norman See also:kings were ready to do honour to his name. From See also:William the Conqueror onward every See also:sovereign has been crowned here excepting Edward V. The coronation chairs stand in the Confessor's chapel. That used by the sovereign See also:dates from the See also:time of Edward I., and contains beneath its seat the stone of See also:Scone, or stone of destiny, on which the See also:Celtic kings were crowned. It is of Scottish origin, but tradition identifies it with See also:Jacob's See also:pillow at See also:Bethel. Here also are kept the See also:sword and See also:shield of Edward III., still used in the coronation ceremony. The second See also:chair was made for See also:Mary, See also:consort of William III. Subsequent to the See also:Conquest many kings and queens were buried here, from Henry III. to George II. Not all the See also:graves are marked, but of those which are the See also:tomb of Henry VII. and his See also:queen, See also:Elizabeth of See also:York, the central See also:object in his own chapel, is the finest.

The splendid recumbent effigies in See also:

bronze, of See also:Italian workmanship, See also:rest upon a tomb of See also:black marble, and the whole is enclosed in a magnificent shrine of wrought See also:brass. Monuments, tombs, busts and memorials See also:crowd the choir, its chapels and the transepts, nor is the nave wholly See also:free of them. All but the minority of the Gothic period (among which the canopied tombs of See also:Edmund Crouchback and See also:Aymer de See also:Valence, in the See also:sanctuary, are notable) appear incongruous in a Gothic setting. Many of the memorials are not worthy of their position as See also:works of See also:art, nor are the subjects they commemorate always worthy to lie here, for the high honour of burial in the Abbey was not always so conscientiously guarded as now. Eliminating these considerations, however, a wonderful range of sculptural art is found. A part of the south transept is famed under the name of the Poet's Corner. The north transept contains many monuments to statesmen. The monastery was dissolved in 1539, and Westminster was then erected into a bishopric, but only one See also:prelate, See also:Thomas Thurleby, held the See also:office of See also:bishop. In 1553 Mary again appointed an conventual abbot, but Elizabeth reinstated the See also:dean, with twelve pre- bendaries. Of the conventual buildings, the cloisters are of and other the 13th and 14th centuries. On the south side of the buildings. See also:southern walk remains of a See also:wall of the See also:refectory are seen from without. From the eastern walk a porch gives entry to the chapter house and the chapel of the See also:Pyx.

The first is of the time of Henry III., a fine octagonal building, its vaulted roof supported by a slender clustered See also:

column of marble. It was largely restored by Sir See also:Gilbert Scott. There are mural paintings of the 14th and 15th centuries. The chapel or chamber of the Pyx is part of the under-See also:croft of the original See also:dormitory, and is early Norman work of the Confessor's time. It was used as a See also:treasury for the See also:regalia and other articles of value in early times, and here were kept the See also:standard coins of the See also:realm used in the trial of the pyx now carried out at the See also:Mint. The undercroft is divided into compartments by walls, and part of it appears in the gymnasium of Westminster School. Above it is now the chapter library. To the south-east lies the picturesque Little Cloister, with its See also:court and See also:fountain, surrounded by residences of canons and officials. Near it are slight ruins of the monastic infirmary chapel of St See also:Catherine. West of the main cloisters are the Deanery, See also:Jerusalem chamber and See also:College See also:Hall, the building surrounding a small court and dating in fabric mainly from the 14th century. This was the Abbot's house. Its most famous portion is the Jerusalem chamber, believed to be named from the former tapestries on its walls, representing the See also:holy city.

Here died Henry IV. in 1413, as set forth in See also:

Shakespeare's Henry IV. (Pt. ii., Act iv. Sc. 4). It is a beautiful See also:room, with open See also:timber roof, windows partly of stained See also:glass, and walls tapestried and panelled The College Hall, adjoining it, is of similar construction, but plainly fitted in the common manner of a refectory, with a See also:dais for the high table at the north and a gallery at the south. It is now the dining-hall of Westminster School. Westminster School.—St Peter's College, commonly called Westminster School, is one of the most See also:ancient and eminent public See also:schools in England, and the only school of such See also:standing still occupying its original site in London. A school was maintained by the monks from very early times. Henry VIII. took steps to raise it in importance, but the school owes its See also:present See also:eminence to Queen Elizabeth, who is commemorated as the foundress at a Latin See also:commemoration service held periodically in the Abbey, where, moreover, the daily school service is held. The school buildings lie east of the conventual buildings, surrounding Little Dean's Yard, which, like the cloisters, communicates with Dean's Yard, in which are the picturesque houses of the headmaster, canons of the Abbey, and others. The buildings are modern or large modernized. The Great Schoolroom is a fine panelled hall, bearing on its walls the arms and names of many eminent alumni; it is entered by a gateway attributed to Inigo See also:Jones, also covered with names.

See also:

Ashburnham House, now containing one of the school houses, the library and class-rooms, is named from the See also:family for whom it was built, traditionally but not certainly, by Inigo Jones. The finest part remaining is the See also:grand See also:staircase. The number of scholars, called King's Scholars, on the foundation is 6o, of which 4o, who are boarders, represent the original number. The great proportion of the boys are See also:home boarders (See also:Town Boys). In the College dormitory a Latin See also:play is annually presented, in accordance with ancient custom. It is preceded by a See also:prologue, and followed by a humorous See also:epilogue, in Latin adapted to subjects of the moment. Other customs for which the school is noted are the See also:acclamation of the sovereign at coronation in the Abbey, in accordance with a See also:privilege jealously held by the boys; and the " Pancake Greaze," a struggle in the Great Schoolroom on Shrove Tuesday to obtain See also:possession of a pancake carrying with it a See also:reward from the Dean. The number of boys is about 250. Valuable close scholarships and exhibitions at See also:Christ Church, Oxford, and Trinity College, See also:Cambridge, are awarded annually. St See also:Margaret's.—On the north side of the Abbey, close beside it, is the See also:parish church of St Margaret. It was founded in or soon after the time of the Confessor, but the present building is Perpendicular, of greater beauty within than without. St Margaret's is officially the church of the House of See also:Commons.

It is frequently the See also:

scene of fashionable weddings, which are rarely held in the Abbey. On the south side of Dean's Yard is the Church House, a memorial of Queen Victoria's See also:Jubilee (1887), consisting of a spacious hall of See also:brick and stone, with offices for numerous Church See also:societies. Westminster See also:Palace: Houses of Parliament.—A royal palace existed at Westminster at least as early as the reign of Canute, but the building spoken of by Fitzstephen as an " incomparable structure furnished with a breastwork and a See also:bastion " is supposed to have been founded by Edward the Confessor and enlarged by William the Conqueror. The Hall, called Westminster Hall, was built by William See also:Rufus and altered by See also:Richard II. In 1512 the palace suffered greatly from See also:fire, and thereafter ceased to be used as a royal See also:residence. St See also:Stephen's chapel, originally built by King Stephen, was used from 1547 for the meetings of the House of Commons, which had been held previously in the chapter house of the Abbey. The Lords used another apartment of the palace, but on the 16th of October 1834 the whole of the buildings, except the hall, was burnt down. In 184o the building of the New Palace, or Houses of Parliament, began, and it was completed in 1867, at a cost of about three millions See also:sterling. (For See also:plan, &c., see ARCHITECTURE: Modern.) It covers an area of about 8 acres, and has a frontage of about 300 yds. to the Thames. The architect was Sir Charles See also:Barry, and the style is See also:late Perpendicular. Towards the river it presents a See also:rich See also:facade with a See also:terrace rising directly from the See also:water. At the south-west corner rises the vast Victoria tower, above the royal entrance, 340 ft. high, and 75 ft. square.

At the north is the See also:

clock tower, 32o ft. high, bearing the great clock which chimes the quarters on four bells, and strikes the See also:hours on a See also:bell weighing over 13 tons, named Big See also:Ben after Sir See also:Benjamin Hall, First See also:Commissioner of Works at the time when the clock was erected. The building incorporates Westminster Hall, which See also:measures 290 ft. in length, 68 in width, and 90 in height. It has a magnificent open roof of carved oak, and is used as the See also:vestibule of the Houses of Parliament. Of the modern rooms, the House of Peers is a splendidly ornate chamber, 97 ft. in length; that of the Commons is 7o ft. long, and less lavishly adorned. The sitting of parliament is signified by a See also:flag on Victoria Tower in daytime and by a See also:light at the See also:summit of the clock tower at See also:night. Whitehall.—Northward from Parliament Square a broad, slightly curving thoroughfare leads to See also:Trafalgar Square. This is Whitehall, which replaced the narrow King Street. Here, between the Thames and St James's Park, formerly stood York House, a residence of the archbishops of York from 1248. See also:Wolsey beautified the See also:mansion a,F1d kept high See also:state there, but on his disgrace Henry VIII. acquired and reconstructed it, employed See also:Holbein in its decoration, and made it his See also:principal residence. Inigo Jones designed a magnificent new palace for James I., but only the banqueting hall was completed (1622), and this survived several fires, by one of which (1697) nearly the whole of the rest of the palace was destroyed. The hall, converted into a royal chapel by George I., and now See also:housing the museum of the Royal See also:United Service Institution, the buildings of which adjoin it, is a fine specimen of See also:Palladian architecture, and its See also:ceiling is adorned with allegorical paintings by See also:Rubens, restored and rehung in 1907. The museum contains military and See also:naval relics, models and other exhibits.

Through this hall Charles I. passed on his way to See also:

execution beneath its windows; and the palace was the scene of the death of Henry VIII., See also:Cromwell and Charles II. The principal government offices are situated in Whitehall. On the left, following the northerly direction, are buildings completed in 1908, from the designs of J. M. Brydon, for the Boards of See also:Education, See also:Trade, See also:Local Government, &c. The Home, See also:Foreign, Colonial and See also:India Offices occupy the next See also:block, a heavy building, adorned with allegorical figures, by Sir G. G. Scott (1873). See also:Downing Street, separating these from the Treasury, contains the See also:official residences of the First Lord of the Treasury and the See also:Chancellor of the Ex-chequer. The Treasury itself dates from 1737, but the facade is by Sir Charles Barry. The See also:Horse See also:Guards, containing the offices of various military departments, is a low but not unpicturesque building surrounding a court-yard, built in 1753 on the site of a guard-house for the See also:security of Whitehall palace, dating from 1631. On the See also:parade ground between it and St James's Park the ceremony of trooping the See also:colour is held at the celebration of the sovereign's birthday.

The portion of the See also:

Admiralty facing Whitehall dates from 1726 and is See also:plain and sombre; but there are handsome new buildings on the Park side. On the right of Whitehall, besides the banquet hall, are the fine See also:War Office, completed in 1906, from the designs of W. See also:Young, and See also:Montagu House, the residence of the See also:duke of See also:Buccleuch. In front of the War Office an equestrian statue of the duke of Cambridge (d. 1904) was unveiled in 1907. Trafalgar Square is an open space sloping sharply to the north. On the south side, facing the entry of Whitehall, is the Nelson column (1843) by W. Railton, 145 ft. in height, a copy in See also:granite from the temple of See also:Mars Ultor in See also:Rome, crowned with a statue of Nelson by E. H. See also:Baily, and having at its See also:base four See also:colossal lions in bronze modelled by Sir See also:Edwin See also:Landseer. The centre of the square is levelled and paved with asphalte, and contains two fountains. There are statues of George IV., See also:Napier, See also:Havelock and See also:Gordon.

Behind the terrace on the north rises the National Gallery (1838), a Grecian building by William See also:

Wilkins, subsequently much enlarged, with its splendid collection of paintings. The ;National Portrait Gallery is contained in a building (1895) on the north-east side of the National Gallery. Westminster Cathedral.—A See also:short distance from Victoria Street, towards its western end, stands Westminster Cathedral (Roman Catholic). Its foundation was laid in 1886, and its See also:consecration took place at the close of 1903. Its site is somewhat circumscribed, and this and its great bulk renders impossible any See also:general appreciation of its complex outline; but its stately domed campanile, 283 ft. in height, forms a landmark from far over London. The style was described by the architect, J. F. See also:Bentley, as early See also:Christian See also:Byzantine, and the material is mainly red brick. The extreme length is 36o ft., the breadth 156 ft., the breadth of the nave 6o ft., and its height (domes within) 112 ft.

End of Article: WESTMINSTER

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