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The Palace of Westminster occupies a site of approximately 3.24 hectares (8 acres) on the west bank of the Thames as it runs from south to north on one of its serpentine diversions through the city. The site is bounded to the east by its 266 metres (872ft) waterfront, and to the west by Parliament Square and Millbank. To the north is Portcullis House, a modern office building for MPs and their staff, and beneath which is Westminster tube station. To the south is the Victoria Tower Garden, a small triangle of park between Millbank and the Thames.
The building has approximately 1,000 rooms, 100 staircases, and two miles of passageways. Although some parts of the building, such as Westminster Hall predate the 1834 fire, much of the present structure is from the 1870 construction. Some notable parts of the building include (from north to south):
The Palace of Westminster, seen from the London Eye observation wheel. The Victoria Tower is to the left (with the flag) and the Clock Tower to the right
220px Westminster Hall contains the oldest parts of the palace.
Coronation banquet for George IV at Westminster Hall, July 19, 1821, under the great hammerbeam roof
The design of the present buildings was the result of a national competition, and was the work of Charles Barry assisted by Augustus Pugin. The building is, according to Pevsner, in the Tudor Perpendicular style and combines Picturesque elements with Gothic detail.
The stonework of the building was originally Anstone, a sandy magnesian limestone quarried in the village of Anston near Rotherham, South Yorkshire selected by, amongst others, William Smith, regarded as the father of English Geology. Anstone proved to be unable to withstand the acid conditions of London's smogs, and within ten years of construction was derided as a disgrace. A number of stone replacement projects since then, notably in 1902, have replaced the vast majority of Anstone with Chipsham Stone, a honey-coloured limestone from Lincolnshire.
| The Victoria Tower, Parliament, seen from Victoria Tower Gardens. The Clock Tower (also known as Big Ben) can be glimpsed in the distance |
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