Lambeth Palace.—This curious and interesting building, situated in a part of the metropolis seldom visited by strangers, is the official residence of the archbishops of Canterbury. It is on the south bank of the Thames, between Westminster and Vauxhall Bridges. The structure has grown up by degrees during the six centuries that Lambeth has been the archiepiscopal residence; and on that account exhibits great diversities of style. Leaving unnoticed the private and domestic apartments, the following are the portions of the irregular cluster possessing most interest. The Chapel, some say, was erected in the year 1196; it is in early English, with lancet windows and a crypt; but the roof, stained windows, and carved screens, are much more recent. The archbishops are always consecrated in this chapel. The Lollard’s Tower, at the western end of the chapel, was named from some Lollards or Wickliffites supposed to have been imprisoned there. It is about 400 years old. The uppermost room, with strong iron rings in the walls, appears to have been the actual place of confinement; there are many names and inscriptions cut in the thick oak wainscoting. The Hall, about 200 years old, is 93 feet long by 78 feet wide; it is noticeable for the oak roof, the bay windows, and the arms of several of the archbishops. The Library, 250 years old, contains about 15,000 volumes and numerous manuscripts, many of them rare and curious. The Gatehouse is a red brick structure, with stone dressings. The Church, near it, is one of the most ancient in the neighbourhood of London; it has been recently restored in good taste. Simon of Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered here, in 1381, by Wat Tyler’s mob, who stormed the palace, burned its contents, and destroyed all the registers and public papers. Lambeth Palace is not, as a rule, shewn to strangers.
Mansions of the Nobility.—London is not well supplied with noble mansions of an attractive character; they possess every comfort interiorly, but only a few of them have architectural pretensions. Northumberland House, lately alluded to, at the Charing Cross extremity of the south side of the Strand, looks more like a nobleman’s mansion than most others in London. It was built, in about 1600, by the Earl of Northampton, and came into the hands of the Percies in 1642. Stafford House is perhaps the most finely situated mansion in the metropolis, occupying the corner of St. James’s and the Green Parks, and presenting four complete fronts, each having its own architectural character. The interior, too, is said to be the first of its kind in London. The mansion was built by the Duke of York, with money lent by the Marquis of Stafford, afterwards Duke of Sutherland; but the Stafford family became owners of it, and have spent at least a quarter of a million sterling on the house and its decorations. Apsley House, at the corner of Piccadilly and Hyde Park, is the residence of the Dukes of Wellington, and is closely associated with the memory of the Duke. The shell of the house, of brick, is old; but stone frontages, enlargements, and decorations, were afterwards made. The principal room facing Hyde Park, with seven windows, is that in which the Great Duke held the celebrated Waterloo Banquet, on the 18th of June in every year, from 1816 to 1852. The windows were blocked up with bullet-proof iron blinds from 1831 to the day of his death in 1852; a rabble had shattered them during the Reform excitement, and he never afterwards would trust King Mob.
HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT; WESTMINSTER HALL; GOVERNMENT OFFICES.
Houses of Parliament.—This is the name usually given to the New Palace of Westminster, which is not only Sir Charles Barry’s greatest work, but is in all respects one of the most remarkable structures of the age. The building, which occupies a site close to the river, and close also to the beautiful new Westminster Bridge, was constructed in consequence of the burning of the old Houses of Parliament in 1834. It is perhaps the finest modern Gothic structure in the world—at least for civil purposes; but is unfortunately composed of a stone liable to decay; and, to be critical, its ornaments and details generally are on too minute a scale for the magnitude of the building. The entire structure covers nearly eight acres.
Among the multitude of interesting objects in this stupendous structure, the following may be briefly mentioned. The House of Peers is 97 feet long, 45 wide, and 45 high. It is so profusely painted and gilt, and the windows are so darkened by deep-tinted stained glass, that the eye can with difficulty make out the details. At the southern end is the gorgeously gilt and canopied throne; near the centre is the woolsack, on which the Lord Chancellor sits; at the end and sides are galleries for peeresses, reporters, and strangers; and on the floor of the house are the cushioned benches for the peers. At either end are three frescoes—three behind the throne, and three over the strangers’ gallery. The three behind the throne are—“Edward III. conferring the Order of the Garter on the Black Prince,” by C. W. Cope; “The Baptism of Ethelbert,” by Dyce; and “Henry Prince of Wales committed to Prison for assaulting Judge Gascoigne,” by C. W. Cope. The three at the other end are—“The Spirit of Justice,” by D. Maclise; “The Spirit of Chivalry,” by the same; and “The Spirit of Religion,” by J. C. Horsley. In niches between the windows and at the ends are eighteen statues of Barons who signed Magna Charta. The House of Commons, 62 feet long, 45 broad, and 45 high, is much less elaborate than the House of Peers. The Speaker’s Chair is at the north end; and there are galleries along the sides and ends. In a gallery behind the Speaker the reporters for the newspapers sit. Over them is the Ladies’ Gallery, where the view is ungallantly obstructed by a grating. The present ceiling is many feet below the original one: the room having been to this extent spoiled because the former proportions were bad for hearing.
Strangers might infer, from the name, that these two chambers, the Houses of Peers and of Commons, constitute nearly the whole building; but, in truth, they occupy only a small part of the area. On the side nearest to Westminster Abbey are St. Stephen’s Porch, St. Stephen’s Corridor, the Chancellor’s Corridor, the Victoria Tower, the Royal Staircase, and numerous courts and corridors. At the south end, nearest Millbank, are the Guard Room, the Queen’s Robing Room, the Royal Gallery, the Royal Court, and the Prince’s Chamber. The river front is mostly occupied by Libraries and Committee Rooms. The northern or Bridge Street end displays the Clock Tower and the Speaker’s Residence. In the interior of the structure are vast numbers of lobbies, corridors, halls, and courts. The Saturday tickets, already mentioned, admit visitors to the Prince’s Chamber, the House of Peers, the Peers’ Lobby, the Peers’ Corridor, the Octagonal Hall, the Commons’ Corridor, the Commons’ Lobby, the House of Commons, St. Stephen’s Hall, and St. Stephen’s Porch. All these places are crowded with rich adornments. The Victoria Tower, at the south-west angle of the entire structure, is one of the finest in the world: it is 75 feet square and 340 feet high; the Queen’s state entrance is in a noble arch at the base. The Clock Tower, at the north end, is 40 feet square and 320 feet high, profusely gilt near the top. After two attempts made to supply this tower with a bell of 14 tons weight, and after both failed, one of the so-called ‘Big Bens,’ the weight of which is about 8 tons, (the official name being ‘St. Stephen,’) now tells the hour in deep tones. There are, likewise, eight smaller bells to chime the quarters. The Clock is by far the largest and finest in this country. There are four dials on the four faces of the tower, each 22½ feet in diameter; the hour-figures are 2 feet high and 6 feet apart; the minute-marks are 14 inches apart; the hands weigh more than 2 cwt. the pair; the minute-hand is 16 feet long, and the hour-hand 9 feet; the pendulum is 15 feet long, and weighs 680 lbs.; the weights hang down a shaft 160 feet deep. Besides this fine Clock Tower, there is a Central Tower, over the Octagonal Hall, rising to a height of 300 feet; and there are smaller towers for ventilation and other purposes.
Considering that there are nearly 500 carved stone statues in and about this sumptuous building, besides stained-glass windows, and oil and fresco paintings in great number, it is obvious that a volume would be required to describe them all. In the Queen’s Robing Room are painted frescoes from the story of King Arthur; and in the Peers’ Robing Room, subjects from Biblical history. The Royal Gallery is in the course of being filled with frescoes and stained windows illustrative of English history. Here, among others, specially note the late D. Maclise’s stupendous fresco, 45 feet long by 12 feet high, representing “The Meeting of Wellington and Blucher after the Battle of Waterloo;” and the companion fresco, “The Death of Nelson.”