The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament after its occupants, the Palace lies on the north bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster, in central London, England.
Its name, which derives from the neighbouring Westminster Abbey, may refer to several historic structures but most often: the Old Palace, a medieval building-complex destroyed by fire in 1834, or its replacement, the New Palace that stands today. The palace is owned by the monarch in right of the Crown and, for ceremonial purposes, retains its original status as a royal residence. Committees appointed by both houses manage the building and report to the Speaker of the House of Commons and to the Lord Speaker.
The first royal palace constructed on the site dated from the 11th century, and Westminster became the primary residence of the Kings of England until fire destroyed the royal apartments in 1512 . The remainder of Westminster continued to serve as the home of the Parliament of England, which had met there since the 13th century, and also as the seat of the Royal Courts of Justice, based in and around Westminster Hall. In 1834 an even greater fire ravaged the heavily rebuilt Houses of Parliament, and the only significant medieval structures to survive were Westminster Hall, the Cloisters of St Stephen's, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, and the Jewel Tower.
In the subsequent competition for the reconstruction of the Palace, the architect Charles Barry won with a design for new buildings in the Gothic Revival style, specifically inspired by the English Perpendicular Gothic style of the 14th–16th centuries. The remains of the Old Palace were incorporated into its much larger replacement, which contains over 1,100 rooms organised symmetrically around two series of courtyards and which has a floor area of 112,476 m2 . Part of the New Palace's area of 3.24 hectares was reclaimed from the River Thames, which is the setting of its nearly 300-metre long façade, called the River Front. Augustus Pugin, a leading authority on Gothic architecture and style, assisted Barry and designed the interior of the Palace. Construction started in 1840 and lasted for 30 years, suffering great delays and cost overruns, as well as the death of both leading architects; works for the interior decoration continued intermittently well into the 20th century. Major conservation work has taken place since then to reverse the effects of London's air pollution, and extensive repairs followed the Second World War, including the reconstruction of the Commons Chamber following its bombing in 1941.
The Palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom; "Westminster" has become a metonym for the UK Parliament and the British Government, and the Westminster system of government commemorates the name of the palace. The Elizabeth Tower, in particular, often referred to by the name of its main bell, Big Ben, has become an iconic landmark of London and of the United Kingdom in general, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city, and an emblem of parliamentary democracy. Tsar Nicholas I of Russia called the new palace "a dream in stone".
The Palace of Westminster has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
The Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory is a major chemistry laboratory at the University of Oxford, England. It is located in the main Science Area of the university on South Parks Road. Previously it was known as the Physical Chemistry Laboratory.
Pickford's House Museum of Georgian Life and Costume is in Derby, England. It is named after architect Joseph Pickford, who built it as his family home in 1770. It was opened as a museum in 1988. The building is Grade I listed.
Plasnewydd is an electoral ward of Cardiff, Wales. It falls within the parliamentary constituency of Cardiff Central. It is bounded by the electoral wards of Cyncoed to the north; Penylan to the northeast; Adamsdown to the southwest; and Cathays to the west. It covers what is now the community of Roath.
The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 18,166.
Preston Lodge High School is a six-year non-denominational school located in Prestonpans, Scotland. It serves students from Prestonpans, Port Seton, Longniddry and the surrounding areas.
Rhondda Heritage Park, Trehafod, Rhondda, South Wales is a tourist attraction which offers an insight into the life of the coal mining community that existed in the area until the 1980s.
Visitors can experience the life of the coal miners on a guided tour through one of the mine shafts of the Lewis Merthyr colliery. Tours are led by former colliery workers. Rhondda Heritage Park is an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage.
Rhondda Heritage Park exists on the site of the former Lewis Merthyr Colliery as a testament to the coal mining history of the Rhondda Valleys, which until the end of the 20th century was one of the most important coal mining areas in the world - in an area only 16 miles long, Rhondda alone had over 53 working collieries at one time.
The Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow is a professional body of legal practitioners based in Glasgow and providing services to lawyers in the city and the surrounding area. The Faculty owns and operates the largest law library in the West of Scotland as well as a small branch library at Glasgow Sheriff Court, and runs a programme of continuing professional development seminars.
The Faculty is similar to the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet , a professional association of solicitors which maintains the Signet Library in Edinburgh, however these bodies play no regulatory role for their members, only providing services, and should be distinguished from the Law Society of Scotland and Faculty of Advocates, which are the respective regulatory bodies for solicitors and advocates in Scotland.
The Royal United Hospital is a major acute-care hospital, located in the Weston suburb of Bath, England, which lies approximately 1.5 miles west of the city centre. The hospital has 565 beds and occupies a 52 acres site. It is the area's major accident and emergency hospital, with a helicopter landing point on the adjacent Lansdown Cricket Club field. The hospital is operated by the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust.
Salisbury Guildhall is an 18th-century municipal building in the Market Place, Salisbury, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is the meeting place of the Salisbury City Council.
