​Secrets of Westminster: The attractions you never knew to look for

Ashley Coates tells you what to look out for next time you’re in the area
Palace of Whitehall: Spot the remains in modern day Westminster
Ashley Coates15 February 2016

There’s much more to Westminster than Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Take a walk around the area and look out for the following.

Completed in 1951, the imposing Ministry of Defence building at Whitehall is hard to miss. Less obvious are the remains of a far larger royal palace built on the same site 400 years earlier. From 1538 to 1698, the Palace of Whitehall was the official residence of the royal family in London. Extending over 23 acres, the palace was the largest in Europe and gave its name to what is now the administrative hub of central government in the UK.

In a fate that would befall the medieval Houses of Parliament 200 years later, most of the Palace of Whitehall was burnt down in a huge fire, leaving only a few discrete remains of its former glory.

Walk round to the river-facing side of the MOD building and you can see a wall and a series of steps dating from 1691 that would have provided access for Queen Mary II and her officials to reach the State Barge on the Thames.

Queen Mary's steps Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer

A 16th century vaulted undercroft also survives, and is now known as “Henry VIII’s Wine Chamber”, but this is off limits to the public and managed by the MOD. The only truly significant remnant of the palace is Inigo Jones’ opulent Banqueting House. Flanked by the Old War Office, Cabinet Office and the Wales Office, the Banqueting House can be easily mistaken for another government department building.

But step inside and you will find an immaculately preserved 17th century royal pleasure house, boasting a mural by Rubens and the UK’s first neoclassical facade. It is owned and operated by the Historic Royal Palaces charity and is usually open to the public seven days a week.

Banqueting House Steve Cadman/Creative Commons
Steve Cadman/Creative Commons

Opposite the Banqueting House and Old War Office is the official entrance to Buckingham Palace, Horse Guards. Look closely at the clock face and you will see that the numerical 2 is black to mark the time that King Charles I was executed outside the Banqueting House in 1642.

Clock face at Horse Guards S Pakhrin/Creative Commons
S Pakhrin/Creative Commons

The execution of Charles I was followed by a period of deep paranoia on the part of the government of the day, which feared a royalist insurrection. It became illegal to keep images of the deceased king, even privately. The bronze equestrian statue that now stands in the middle of a traffic island at Trafalgar Square is a remarkable survivor from this period. Hidden underground for 40 years by the very man ordered to destroy it, the statue has stood on this site since 1676.

Few sculptures in London date from this period but, due to its unassuming location, it is barely noticed by passers-by. Charles I looks on, staring in the direction of the place of his execution.

King Charles I Equestrian Statue Matt Brown/Creative Commons
Matt Brown/Creative Commons

If you face the Houses of Parliament side-on you will notice that Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) is one of three tall structures that project from the building. If you look really closely you may be able to see that Elizabeth Tower is leaning over, very slightly, towards MP’s offices in Portcullis House on the other side of Westminster Bridge Road.

The tower is leaning 0.26 degrees to the north-west, a difference of around 0.5 metres from the base to the Ayrton Light at its peak. This light at the top of the tower is switched on only when either the Lords or the Commons is sitting after dark and is named after a former MP, Acton Smee Ayrton.

Houses of Parliament Wilson Hui/Creative Commons
Wilson Hui/Creative Commons

At the south end of the building, Victoria Tower houses the Parliamentary Archives, where Acts of Parliament going back to 1497 are stored. Elizabeth Tower and Victoria Tower are not part of the main visitor’s tour of Parliament, but visits can be requested by writing to your MP or contacting the Parliamentary Archives office. Both tours are free of charge.

The smallest of the three towers is Central Tower. It may look like a decorative Gothic spire but it was designed as an early, albeit ineffective, attempt at providing ventilation to the palace.

Opposite Victoria Tower in Old Palace Yard, the 14th century Jewel Tower is another one of Westminster’s under-appreciated little gems. The medieval Palace of Westminster that had housed parliament since the 13th century was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1834 but the Jewel Tower survived, and would later become the office where the Imperial measurement system was standardised.

The Jewel Tower Kurt Bauschardt/Creative Commons
Kurt Bauschardt/Creative Commons

As its name suggests, the Jewel Tower once held the personal treasure of Edward III and continued to do so until 1512. It is owned and operated by English Heritage and is open to the public.

Dramatically overshadowed by Westminster Abbey, St Margaret’s Church is the Anglican parish church of the House of Commons. Winston Churchill and Samuel Pepys had their weddings there and Sir Walter Raleigh was buried inside, following his execution in 1618. St Margaret’s was founded by monks in the 12th century but the present building dates from the 1500s. It is free to visit.

If you feel like being intellectually challenged on your day out, you may want to visit Middlesex Guildhall, home to the UK Supreme Court, on the west side of Parliament Square. Its proceedings are open to the public and can be visited free of charge.

UK Supreme Court Jay Galvin/Creative Commons
Jay Galvin/Creative Commons

These are just a few of the less-obvious sites that lie in the vicinity of the more famous Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament. Not mentioned above is the array of smaller museums such as the Guards Museum at Wellington Barracks or the Household Cavalry Museum at Horse Guards. As is so often the case with London, the best way to get to know it is to get off the beaten path and go exploring!

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