Category: Buildings and Architecture

The Commons in the Wars of the Roses, 15th Century History, Buildings and Architecture, Medieval, Richard II

Parliament in a portacabin: the routine maintenance of Westminster Hall in the Middle Ages

During the summer recess staff at Parliament take the opportunity to undertake repair work on the Palace. This is a practice that was undertaken throughout the ages, as Dr Hannes Kleineke, Senior Research Fellow on the Commons 1422-1504 section, discusses… Complaints over the length of the parliamentary summer recess (much like teachers’ summer holidays) are a time-honoured staple of the political commentariate struggling to fill … Continue reading Parliament in a portacabin: the routine maintenance of Westminster Hall in the Middle Ages

Hannes KleinekeLeave a comment
Modern, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Buildings and Architecture, Victorian

Seats in the Commons

After today’s State Opening of Parliament, many MPs will also have to battle to find a seat to debate the Queen’s Speech. This is a historic problem for the Commons, as our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, discusses… Mr Dennis Skinner, the fabled member for Bolsover, found himself on the day the House first sat after the election in a tussle with the SNP over his … Continue reading Seats in the Commons

Paul SeawardLeave a comment
Conferences, Seminars and Events, 19th Century history, Buildings and Architecture, Victorian

Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Rebekah Moore, ‘Contested spaces: temporary houses of Parliament and government, 1834-52’

At our last ‘Parliaments, Politics and People’ seminar, Rebekah Moore, holder of an AHRC collaborative doctoral award with the History of Parliament and Institute of Historical Research, gave a paper on the temporary Houses of Parliament after the fire of 1834. Here Rebekah gives an overview of her paper… From 1557, the House of Commons was situated in St Stephen’s Chapel, one of the medieval … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Rebekah Moore, ‘Contested spaces: temporary houses of Parliament and government, 1834-52’

History of ParliamentLeave a comment
Conferences, Seminars and Events, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Art, Fashion and Material Culture, Buildings and Architecture, Modern, Social history

Parliaments, politics and people seminar: Dr Geoff Hicks on ‘Memorialising Britain’s politicians: the politics of Parliament Square’

Our latest ‘Parliaments, Politics and People’ seminar paper report, thanks to Kathryn Rix of the Victorian Commons… Geoff Hicks of the University of East Anglia gave a very engaging talk on ‘Memorialising Britain’s politicians: the politics of Parliament Square, c. 1867-1917’. With its focus on the statues of Victorian politicians erected in Parliament Square, his paper provided an excellent complement to last term’s paper from … Continue reading Parliaments, politics and people seminar: Dr Geoff Hicks on ‘Memorialising Britain’s politicians: the politics of Parliament Square’

Kathryn RixLeave a comment
Victorian, 19th Century history, Buildings and Architecture, Resources and Publications

Burning the House down: The Fire of 1834

Today in 1834 a huge fire swept through the old Palace of Westminster, destroying most of the medieval buildings. Caroline Shenton, of the Parliamentary Archives at Westminster and author of ‘The Day Parliament Burned Down’, has written a new article for the ‘Explore’ section of our website to mark the anniversary. Here is an extract from her article on the events of that dramatic night: … Continue reading Burning the House down: The Fire of 1834

Emma Peplow3 Comments
19th Century history, Buildings and Architecture, Conferences, Seminars and Events, Victorian

Parliament, Politics and People Seminar: Caroline Shenton

Dr Kathryn Rix, Assistant Editor of the History’s Commons, 1832-68 project and one of the Victorian Commons bloggers, reports back from the second ‘Parliament, Politics and People’ seminar of the term, given by Caroline Shenton earlier this week. The ‘Parliament, Politics and People’ seminar at the Institute of Historical Research recently heard an extremely interesting talk from Caroline Shenton of the Parliamentary Archives on ‘The … Continue reading Parliament, Politics and People Seminar: Caroline Shenton

History of Parliament1 Comment