The history of this Palace began in the Middle Ages when it was used as a royal residence. The Parliament of the UK has met here since 1295. The initial palace doesn't exist anymore, though. It burned down and later a new palace was built, which we see now.
At first, let's see why it is called Westminster and what it means. In the early 8 century, the Saxons built a church in honour to St. Peter. It was constructed on the banks of the river Thames toward the west. The territory that it was built on was called Thorney Island. Thorney Island is the place where Westminster Palace and Abbey were built. It was a small island on the Thames during the Middle Ages. In the eats there was another church of St. Paul. It was decided to name the Church of St. Peter as a west monastery (which later became shortened to Westminster) and the church of St. Paul became known as an east monastery - Eastminster.
The first king to use the Thorney Island as a royal residence was Canute the Great. After that, the penultimate Anglo-Saxon king Edward the Confessor started rebuilding St. Peter's Abbey and also at about the same time he built a royal palace beside there. In that era, this area got the name Westminster.
When William the Conqueror invaded England, he used the existing Palace and Abbey. His son, William Rufus (William II), after becoming king, started to transform the Palace and bulit Westminster Hall in 1097. Now it is the oldest part of the initial palace that survived till our days. At that time, the Hall was used mostly for ceremonies.
However, the Westminster Palace started to be used for parliamentary gatherings only in the 13th century.
Simon de Monfort's Parliament(1265)
It's usually thought to be the 1st representative English parliament because both, the knights and the burgesses, attended the meetings. Monfort himself is often regarded as the founder of the House of Commons.
Simon de Monfort had strong political control over the government, but he was not a monarch. His parliament discussed radical reforms but it existed only a year until Montfort was killed at the Battle of Evesham.
As the Westminster Palace was originally built as a royal residence, there was no special place, or any chamber, for the meetings of the two houses of parliament. Although, starting from 1534, the Palace was used by the two Houses and some royal law courts only, because King Henry VIII had to move to York Place and renamed it the Palace of Whitehall (he had to leave the Westminster Palace because it was destroyed at some parts by fire in 1512).
The Painted Chamber served as a place for important state ceremonies. The House of Lords usually met in the Queen's Chamber, and the House of Commons (that didn't have an official chamber for their meetings) sometimes held its gatherings in the Chapter House of Westminster Palace.
On 16 October 1834, a great fire broke out in the Palace when an overheated stove that was used for burning the Exchequer's old telly sticks caused the fire starting with the House of Lords Chamber. Then, amost the whole Palace complex was destroyed.
The only parts of the Palace that survived are: the Jewel Tower, the Undercroft Chapel, the Cloisters, and the Chapter House.
But by 1835, the Painted Chamber and the White Chamber had been quickly repaired for the use by the Houses of Lords and Commons respectively.
Later, a competition to choose the best design for a new Palace of Westminster started in which a lot of projects were competing presenting different architectural styles.
The winners of the competition were Augustus Pugin and Charles Barry. Pugin submitted the design for Parliament through Barry.
Sir Charles Barry proposed a complex of buildings in Gothic style. The first stone of the new palace was laid on 27 April 1840 by Barry's wife Sarah. The Lords Chamber was completed in 1847, and the Commons Chamber in 1852. However, the work continued for more than a decade till its finish! The construction of the new palace took some 30 years! Charles Barry gifted the Westminster Palace its wonderful Gothic style and Pugin gave it a magnificent interior decoration.
Unfortunately, neither man saw the final contraction: Pugin died in 1852, he had mental health problems and after some therapies in a private asylum which didn't help, he died... As for Barry, he died in 1860 and his son Edward had to finish the construction for his father.
During the World War II, the Palace of Westminster was hit by German bombs. The worst raid took place 10 May 1941, when at night the Palace was hit many times and three people died. The Commons Chamber was completely destroyed, the Lords Chamber was also attacked with a bomb, but fortunately it didn't explode. The Members' Lobby was destroyed, too. The Elizabeth Tower was hit by a bomb but luckily the clock didn't even stop working! The Commons Chamber was rebuilt afer the war by the architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
After everything that happened to the Palace of Westminster, it continues to stay in the heart of London after so many centuries. It is still considered a royal residence and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
Check out this video to know more about this Palace!
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