12 Views of the Houses of Parliament

The Houses of Parliament is one of the sites that most people visit but few take the time to photograph the whole building from all vantage points. Its best to start this mini route around the Houses of Parliament from Parliament square to get the classic views and then go along Margret Street and Old Palace Yard to get the view that you sometimes see when members of parliament are being interviewed. When you turn into Victoria Tower Gardens then you get a completely different impression of the building set against a park setting. Cross over Lambeth Bridge for the dramatic views of the Houses of Parliament and the river and then follow it along Albert Embankment until you get to Westminster bridge noting how it changes along the route.  Once you get to Westminster Bridge, there are lots of opportunities to explore the other site such as the London Eye and get even more view of the Houses of Parliament.

Here is some information on the site itself.

Houses of Parliament/ The Palace of Westminster / Westminster Palace and Big Ben

The Houses of Parliament is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament—the House of Lords (left – red) and the House of Commons (right –green).

Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the Elizabeth II tower. It is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world] The clock first ticked on 31 May 1859.

Westminster Hall

Westminster Hall is the oldest building Was originally used for judicial purposes including the trial of King Charles I. Now used for special visitors and events

King Richard I – by Carlo Marochetti

Richard I ( or Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior) was King of England from 1189. Richard was a central Christian commander during the Third Crusade

Oliver Cromwell

A controversial figure in British History who lead the parliamentarians into a civil war with the Royalist of Charles I who was later executed.

The Burghers of Calais by Rodin

In 1347 during the Hundred Years’ War, when Calais was under siege, Edward offered to spare the people of the city if any six of its top leaders would surrender themselves to him.