Westminster Hall.—Although now made, in a most ingenious manner, to form part of the sumptuous edifice just described, Westminster Hall is really a distinct building. It was the old hall of the original palace of Westminster, built in the time of William Rufus, but partly re-constructed in 1398. The carved timber roof is regarded as one of the finest in England. The hall is 290 feet long, 68 wide, and 110 high. There are very few buildings in the world so large as this unsupported by pillars. The southern end, both within and without, has been admirably brought into harmony with the general architecture of the Palace of Parliament. Doors on the east side lead to the House of Commons; doors on the west lead to the Courts of Chancery, Queen’s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, Probate, and Divorce, &c. No building in England is richer in associations with events relating to kings, queens, and princes, than Westminster Hall. St. Stephen’s Crypt, lately restored with great splendour, is entered from the south end of the Hall.
Somerset House, in the Strand, was built in 1549 by the Protector Somerset; and, on his attainder and execution, fell to the Crown. Old Somerset House was pulled down in 1775, and the present building erected in 1780, after the designs of Sir Wm. Chambers. The rear of the building faces the Thames, its river frontage being 600 feet long, and an excellent specimen of Palladian architecture. In Somerset House are several Government offices—among the rest, a branch of the Admiralty, the Inland Revenue, and the Registrar-General’s department. More than 900 clerks are employed in the various offices. The rooms in which Newspaper Stamps are produced by ingenious processes, and those in which the Registrar-General keeps his voluminous returns of births, marriages, and deaths, are full of interest; but they are not accessible for mere curiosity. The learned Societies are removed to Burlington House, Piccadilly.
Government Offices.—A few words will suffice for the other West-End Government offices. The Admiralty, in Whitehall, is the head-quarters of the Naval Department. The front of the building was constructed about 1726; and the screen, by the brothers Adam, about half-a-century later. Most of the heads of the Admiralty have official residences connected with the building. The Horse Guards, a little farther down Whitehall, is the head-quarters of the commander-in-chief. It was built about 1753, and has an arched entrance leading into St. James’s Park.
ST. PAUL’S; WESTMINSTER ABBEY; CHURCHES; CHAPELS; CEMETERIES.
St. Paul’s Cathedral.—This is the most prominent object in the metropolis. The lofty dome, seen for miles around, stands in the centre of an enclosed churchyard of limited dimensions, at the head of Ludgate Hill. A church is said to have existed here four hundred years before the Norman conquest; and, under various shapes and extensions, it remained till destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. An entirely new edifice was then erected in its stead, the important work being committed to Sir Christopher Wren. It was opened for divine service in 1697, and finished in 1710—one architect and one master-mason having been engaged on it for 35 years. [47a] The cathedral is built in the form of a cross, 514 feet in length by 286 in breadth. [47b] Outwardly, the walls, which have a dark sooty appearance, except where bleached by the weather, exhibit a double range of windows. There are three porticos at as many entrances on the north, west, and south. That on the west is the principal, with twelve lofty Corinthian pillars below, and a second order carrying the pediment above; the angles are crowned with handsome bell-towers, much larger than ordinary church steeples, and 222 feet high.
Westminster Abbey.—Nearly opposite the Houses of Parliament stands Westminster Abbey, open to inspection on the north, west, and east, but much crowded upon by private dwellings on the south. In very early times this spot of ground was a small insular tract, surrounded by the waters of the Thames, and called Thorney Island. Here a monastic institution was founded on the introduction of Christianity into Britain. Under Edward the Confessor an abbey was raised upon the site of the ruined monastic building. The ground-plan, as usual, bore the form of the cross. Rights and endowments were granted; and the edifice assumed a great degree of architectural grandeur. It had become the place for the inauguration of the English monarchs; and William the Conqueror was crowned here with great pomp in 1066. Henry III. and Edward I. enlarged the abbey; and the building continued nearly in the state in which they left it, until Henry VII. added a chapel, built in the perpendicular style, on which the greatest skill of the architect and the sculptor was displayed; exhibiting one of the most splendid structures of the age, and so highly esteemed, that it was enjoined that the remains of royalty alone should be interred within its walls. During the reign of Henry VIII., the abbey was considerably defaced; but on the surrender of its revenues, Henry raised Westminster to the dignity of a city, and its abbey was constituted a cathedral. It was, however, afterwards re-united to the see of London, in 1550. (An archbishopric of Westminster, created by the Pope a few years ago, is connected only with Roman Catholic matters, and is not recognised by the English law.) Westminster Abbey, during the reign of William and Mary, was thoroughly repaired, and the towers added at the western entrance, under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren. These towers, however, though good in outline and general mass, are not in harmony with the rest of the building. The length of the abbey is 416 feet; breadth at the transept, 203 feet; and at the nave, 102 feet; height of the west towers, 225 feet. The exterior measurement, including Henry VII.’s Chapel, is 530 feet.