Burning old tally sticks destroyed Britain's medieval Parliament in one night
On 16 October 1834, workers fed a stove with the Exchequer's obsolete wooden tally sticks. It overheated, set the Lords chamber alight, and most of the medieval Palace of Westminster burned. What rose in its place took 30 years, outlived both of its architects, and still needs rescuing today.
Kings lived here long before lawmakers took over. Edward the Confessor built a palace around 1045 to 1050, and Westminster Hall, the oldest surviving part, dates from William II's reign. A fire in 1512 wrecked the royal apartments, and Henry VIII moved to Whitehall, seized from Cardinal Wolsey. Parliament stayed, having met there since the Model Parliament of 1295, making do with borrowed rooms such as St Stephen's Chapel.
In 1834 changing winds and firefighters saved Westminster Hall, along with the Jewel Tower and parts of St Stephen's. William IV tried to hand Parliament the nearly finished Buckingham Palace, which he disliked, but it was judged unsuitable. Charles Barry won the design contest with a Perpendicular Gothic scheme, leaning heavily on Augustus Pugin for detail. Building began in 1840, the Lords chamber opened in 1847 and the Commons in 1852.
Bombs hit the palace on fourteen occasions in the Second World War. One in September 1940 bent the sword of the Richard the Lionheart statue, which became a symbol of democracy bending without breaking. On the night of 10 to 11 May 1941, firefighters had to choose between the Commons chamber and the roof of Westminster Hall; they saved the hall, and a simplified chamber was completed in 1950.
The stone has been a running headache. Barry's sandy Anston limestone decayed from pollution, and honey-coloured Clipsham stone from Rutland was chosen as a replacement in 1928. The Elizabeth Tower, 96 m tall and called the Clock Tower until 2012, holds a clock that has struck the hour within a second since 1859. In 2018 MPs voted to move out for a full refurbishment, but as of February 2026 no plan had been agreed.
Source: Palace of Westminster
