CHAPTER VII

.

The NEW PALACE AT WESTMINSTER.

I. HISTORY OF THE GROWTH OF THE DESIGN.--Influence of external circumstances on the design--Lowness and irregularity of site--Limitation of choice to Elizabethan and Gothic styles--Choice of Perpendicular style--Original conception of the Plan--Question of restoration of St. Stephen’s Chapel--Use of Westminster Hall as the grand Entrance to the building--Simplicity of plan--Principle of symmetry and regularity dominant--Enlargement of Plan after its adoption--Conception of St. Stephen’s porch--The Central Hall--The Royal entrance and Royal Gallery--The House of Lords, its construction and decoration--The House of Commons, and its alteration--Great difficulty of the acoustic problem--Enlargement of public requirements--Alterations of design in the River Front--The Land Fronts--The Victoria Tower--The Clock Tower--General inclination to increase the upward tendency of the design, and the amount of decoration. II. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTUAL BUILDING.--Its dimensions--Its main lines of approach; the public approach--The Royal approach--The private approaches of Peers and Commons--General character of the plan--The external fronts--The towers--Criticisms on the building by independent authorities 236

##