Parliament has been sited at its current Westminster location for over 900 years, although the current building is only 150 years old, the original being destroyed by fire. The building is divided into three distinct areas defined by colour: gold for the Queen’s area, red for the House of Lords and green for the House of Commons.

Following the Queen’s route when she opens Parliament, we entered the robing room, which is incredibly ornate with an impressive gilded ceiling and frescoes depicting scenes of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In the Royal Gallery on display is the draft declaration of rights, which alongside the Magna Carta forms the basis of today’s constitution. On a more morbid front, also exhibited is the death warrant for Charles I with numerous signatures including those of Cromwell and Gray. An interesting aside regarding the Queen is that the cellars of Parliament are always searched before her visit, as the result of the infamous Gunpowder Plot. Finally via the Prince’s Chamber and the incorrectly-painted portraits of Henry VIII’s wives we entered the Lords’ Chamber. The most noticeable feature here is the gold leaf throne and canopy designed by Pugin. This is the only throne in Parliament and represents the furthest point to which the Queen can proceed within the building. Red benches are situated along either flank of the chamber. Above these at regular intervals hang microphones, and within the benches themselves amplifier speakers are situated so peers may better hear the debates. Currently over 600 peers can sit in the chamber, but this will soon change with the various reforms of the Lords.

We passed through the Peer’s Corridor to the Central Lobby. This is where Members of Parliament meet their constituents. A three tonne chandelier is the dominant feature hanging from the vaulted ceiling and adorning each entrance are giant mosaics of the patron saints. St George presides over the Lords’ entrance, St David over the Commons’ entrance, and St Andrew over the bars and restaurants!! The Commons’ Lobby is markedly less ostentatious than the Lords’ and houses the telephone and written pigeonholes for all the MPs. Statues of several former Prime Ministers feature within the lobby, and the black colouring from Churchill's foot has been rubbed away where MPs have repeatedly touched it for luck before entering the chamber to make a speech. We next stepped into the Commons’ Chamber. An observation amongst the tour party was how small the debating chamber was in real life: the reason for this being that television cameras use wide angle lenses, so creating the illusion it is much larger. The chamber would be 150 seats short if all MPs attended; this is rarely a problem, however, as they never have a full compliment of MPs. Down either side of the chamber are two red lines before the frontbenches, which speakers are not allowed to step across. These lines are exactly two sword lengths apart to stop MPs from attacking one another. Adjourning the Chamber on either side are the Division Lobbies. When a motion cannot be decided visually the speaker will sound an eight minute warning bell which rings throughout the building, and all available MPs must rush to these Lobbies to vote either ‘aye’ or ‘no’.

The final part of the tour took us to the oldest part of Parliament, Westminster Hall. This is one of the finest medieval buildings in Europe. Oak hammer beams with stags and deer cross the ceiling, and it is rumoured that tennis balls belonging to Henry VIII were found lodged inside these beams. Originally the hall housed London’s law court and held the state trials of Guy Fawkes and Charles I. More recently it has been used as a state function room where speakers ranging from Winston Churchill to Nelson Mandela have spoken. It is also where distinguished statesmen and monarchs have laid in state, the last being the Queen Mother.

So ended our tour. It was an excellent visit, full of fascinating facts about Parliament and its complex and remarkable history. I wish to thank Jo Vodden and CLIG for organising this event.