St Stephen’s Hall

‘St Stephen’s Hall’. Colour photograph. Estates’ Archive, Palace of Westminster. © UK Parliament/Estates Archive.

Although Barry moved the House of Commons to a new location, he commemorated St Stephen’s Chapel by creating a new building, St Stephen’s Hall, on the same site. It was conceived as a kind of ‘National Valhalla’, decorated with sculptures of famous parliamentarians and paintings of great events in British history.

Beneath it, the original undercroft of St Stephen’s chapel still survives. This was restored by Barry’s son, Edward Middleton Barry, for use as a chapel for Parliament. It was one of the last parts of the new Palace of Westminster to be completed, in 1868.

Image: ‘St Stephen’s Hall’. Colour photograph. Estates’ Archive, Palace of Westminster. © UK Parliament/Estates Archive.

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