The Houses of Parliament are of course among our most famous and recognizable of buildings. This wasn't the best day for photographing them though, it being thoroughly overcast, but more seriously the buildings are shrouded in scaffolding. I did my best with some artfully viewed rooflines....
Originally this was not a parliament, but a Royal palace, hence the proper name "Palace of Westminster." Edward the Confessor moved his court here in the mid 11th century, so before 1066 and all that, and it remained a royal palace until King Henry VIII moved it after a fire. (Pre modern fire services and with copious use of wood and open fires, almost all large public buildings seem to have burnt down every so often. The Palace of Westminster was last incinerated in 1834, resulting in its rebirth as a neo-Gothic palace) . Anyway, Richard Lionheart stands outside, also a Victorian (and patriotic) statue.
Across the road is a much older building, the medieval Jewel Tower, built in 1365 for Edward III to keep his treasure secure. It is now a little museum run by English Heritage.
Next to the Palace are the Victoria Tower Gardens, which house a statue to the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst
But the more famous statue is the Burghers of Calais by Rodin.
As this borders the River there are good views too. At about this point my mate messaged me to note that there was a partial eclipse now. Unfortunately when in thick cloud a partial eclipse is no sight at all.
The Buxton Memorial
Thames House, home of MI5
No comments:
Post a Comment