Архитектурные шедевры Великобритании. Рябцева Е.В. - 15 стр.

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Christmas, then again from early January to mid/late July, with recesses of 10 –
14 days at Easter and over the Spring bank holiday. After a long recess of 10 – 12 weeks in the summer Parliament
resumes for 2 – 3 weeks in October, and in the ‘prorogued’, or suspended, until the Cycle begins again with a
new State Opening. On average it sits for about 160 to 170 days in a normal year.
Parliament comes to an end when it is dissolved by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. A Gen-
eral Election then selects the 651 members of the House of Commons of the new Parliament, and members of
the House of Lords receive a fresh writ of summons to attend their House.
WESTMINSTER HALL AND ST STEPHEN’S HALL
Words and Expressions
– mural – стенная роспись
– a stud – декоративный гвоздь с большой шляпкой
– to embellish – украшать
– hammer beam – консольная балка
– to demolish – разрушать
Westminster Hall, the huge hall of the medieval palace, survived the 1834 fire largely undamaged and was
incorporated into the design of the New Palace. The architect also kept the original ground plan of St Stephen's
Chapel, which had been the Commons' chamber for nearly 300 years, and on it built a new vaulted hall which
has become the main public approach to both Houses of Parliament.
The walls of St Stephen's Hall are covered with a series of large murals on the theme 'The Building of Brit-
ain', installed in 1927. In the ‘Building of Britain’ series, Vivian Forbes depicted an incident in 1523 when Sir
Thomas More, as Speaker, refused to grant Cardinal Wolsey a subsidy for the King without due debate by the
Commons. St Stephen’s Hall is lined with statues of leading statesmen who were distinguished debaters in the old
Commons’ chamber. They cover a historic period of nearly three centuries and include Walpole, Chatham, Burke,
Fox and Pitt. But perhaps of greatest interest are the brass studs set in the floor near the steps to the Central
Lobby which mark the position of the Speaker's chair and clerks' table in the old Commons' chamber.
Alterations to Westminster Hall were limited to a remodelling of the south end to incorporate the hall into
the main public approach to the building. The great south window was reglazed after bomb damage in the Sec-
ond World War and contains memorials to members of both Houses who were killed in the conflict.
The structure is basically the Great Hall which William Rufus built for his Palace of Westminster in 1097 –
1099. It was remodeled in 1394 – 1399 by Richard II, who embellished it with the great north and south win-
dows and statues of Saxon kings, some of which remain on display. The rebuilding was the work of Henry Yev-
ele, the architect of Westminster Abbey, and Hugh Herland, who was responsible for the massive hammer beam
roof with its carved angels.
Westminster Hall played an important role as the place to obtain justice; by the end of the thirteenth century
it contained the courts of Common Pleas, the King's Bench and Chancery.
Courts continued in the hall until 1825, when they moved into a new building along its west wall designed
by Sir John Soane. This survived the 1834 fire, and was demolished only in 1882 after the construction of the
new Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand.
The quiet emptiness of Westminster hall today contrasts with its earlier existence as the Great Hall of the
king’s palace, and the centre of courts of justice. In retaining the hall Barry opened up its south wall with a high
arch to create St Stephen’s Porch. Here he repeated the great window from the end of the hall, and built a wide
flight of steps which serve as a useful dais for ceremonial events. Coronation banquets were held in Westminster
Hall until the reign of George IV, which was the last occasion when the King’s Champion rode his horse into the
hall and challenged anyone to dispute his master’s right to succeed.
Brass plates set in the floor record some of the many state trials held in the hall as well as the lying in state
of monarchs and their consorts in more recent times. Although other great parliamentary and royal ceremonies
take place here periodically, the hall usually stands damp and empty as a gloomy but impressive reminder of the
medieval palace.
A door from Westminster Hall leads down to the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, which was begun in 1292
and completed in the early fourteenth century. Its stonework had to be entirely renewed after the 1834 fire, and
its restoration was completed in the 1860s under the supervision of E.M. Barry. The restoration of the Crypt
Chapel, as it is called, produced the glorious High Victorian interior enriched with painted roof panels, stained

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