157-579: The Parliamentary Archives of the United Kingdom preserves and makes available to the public the records of the House of Lords and House of Commons back to 1497, as well as some 200 other collections of parliamentary interest. The present title was officially adopted in November 2006, as a change from the previous title, the House of Lords Record Office . Over three million records are held by
314-506: A Radical MP, called for new accommodation for the House, while his fellow MP William Cobbett asked "Why are we squeezed into so small a space that it is absolutely impossible that there should be calm and regular discussion, even from circumstance alone ... Why are 658 of us crammed into a space that allows each of us no more than a foot and a half square?" By 1834 the palace complex had been further developed, firstly by John Vardy in
471-828: A fair trial . The English monarchs, through inheritance of substantial territories in France and claims to the French crown, were also heavily involved in conflicts in France, most notably the Hundred Years' War , while the Kings of Scots were in an alliance with the French during this period. Early modern Britain saw religious conflict resulting from the Reformation and the introduction of Protestant state churches in each country. The English Reformation ushered in political, constitutional, social and cultural change in
628-521: A subpolar oceanic climate . Higher elevations in Scotland experience a continental subarctic climate and the mountains experience a tundra climate . The prevailing wind is from the southwest and bears frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean, although the eastern parts are mostly sheltered from this wind. Since the majority of the rain falls over the western regions,
785-604: A welfare state was established, and a comprehensive, publicly funded healthcare system, the National Health Service , was created. The rise of nationalism in the colonies coincided with Britain's much-diminished economic position, so that a policy of decolonisation was unavoidable. Independence was granted to India and Pakistan in 1947. Over the next three decades, most colonies of the British Empire gained their independence, and many became members of
942-518: A considerable amount of clinker had built up inside the flues. A strong smell of burning was present in the Lords' chambers during the afternoon of 16 October, and at 4:00 pm two gentlemen tourists visiting to see the Armada tapestries that hung there were unable to view them properly because of the thick smoke. As they approached Black Rod 's box in the corner of the room, they felt heat from
1099-649: A good view, and many took to the river in whatever craft they could find or hire in order to watch better. A crowd of thousands congregated in Parliament Square to witness the spectacle, including the Prime Minister— Lord Melbourne —and many of his cabinet. Thomas Carlyle , the Scottish philosopher, was one of those present that night, and he later recalled that: The crowd was quiet, rather pleased than otherwise; whew'd and whistled when
1256-816: A land border with the Republic of Ireland ; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , the North Sea , the English Channel , the Celtic Sea , and the Irish Sea . The United Kingdom had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom is London , whose wider metropolitan area is
1413-399: A leading role in the movement to abolish slavery worldwide through the blockade of Africa and pressing other nations to end their trade with a series of treaties. In 1800 the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland each passed an Act of Union, uniting the two kingdoms and creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. After the defeat of France at the end of
1570-470: A list of witnesses to be drawn up, and on 22 October a committee of the Privy Council sat to investigate the fire. The committee, which met in private, heard numerous theories as to the causes of the fire, including the lax attitude of plumbers working in the Lords, carelessness of the servants at Howard's Coffee House—situated inside the palace—and a gas explosion. Other rumours began to circulate;
1727-853: A policy of splendid isolation in Europe, and attempted to contain Russian influence in Afghanistan and Persia , in what came to be known as the Great Game . During this time, Canada , Australia and New Zealand were granted self-governing dominion status. At the turn of the century, Britain's industrial dominance became challenged by the German Empire and the United States . The Edwardian era saw social reform and home rule for Ireland become important domestic issues, while
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#17327650684031884-598: A report outlining the damage, stating that "the strictest enquiry is in progress as to the cause of this calamity, but there is not the slightest reason to suppose that it has arisen from any other than accidental causes." The Times reported on some of the possible causes of the fire, but indicated that it was likely that the burning of the Exchequer tallies was to blame. The same day the cabinet ministers who were in London met for an emergency cabinet meeting ; they ordered
2041-507: A result of a shortage of workers in the 1950s, the government encouraged immigration from Commonwealth countries . In the following decades, the UK became a more multi-ethnic society. Despite rising living standards in the late 1950s and 1960s, the UK's economic performance was less successful than many of its main competitors such as France, West Germany and Japan. The UK was the first democratic nation to lower its voting age to 18 in 1969. In
2198-811: A series of connected wars (including the English Civil War ) which led to the temporary overthrow of the monarchy, with the execution of King Charles I , and the establishment of the short-lived unitary republic of the Commonwealth of England , Scotland and Ireland. Although the monarchy was restored , the Interregnum along with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the subsequent Bill of Rights 1689 in England and Claim of Right Act 1689 in Scotland ensured that, unlike much of
2355-499: Is "one of the most significant monuments of neo-Gothic architecture, as an outstanding, coherent and complete example of neo-Gothic style". The decision to use the Gothic design for the palace set the national style, even for secular buildings. In 2015 the chairman of the House of Commons Commission , John Thurso , stated that the palace was in a "dire condition". The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow , agreed and said that
2512-481: Is only the one specific nominal term 'Great Britain' which invariably excludes Northern Ireland". The BBC historically preferred to use "Britain" as shorthand only for Great Britain, though the present style guide does not take a position except that "Great Britain" excludes Northern Ireland. The adjective "British" is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom and is used in law to refer to United Kingdom citizenship and nationality . People of
2669-538: Is ranked 2nd out of 180 countries in the Environmental Performance Index . A law has been passed that UK greenhouse gas emissions will be net zero by 2050. England accounts for 53 per cent of the UK, covering 50,350 square miles (130,395 km ). Most of the country consists of lowland terrain, with upland and mountainous terrain northwest of the Tees–Exe line which roughly divides
2826-550: Is said to have removed all the Acts and Journals relating to one session. A more business-like administration began with the advent of two Clerks in the 17th century, Robert Bowyer (1609–1621) and Henry Elsynge (1621–1635). Under these diligent and scholarly men the Lords archive took its modern form. Petitions and many other forms of Papers coming to the Lords were carefully filed; extensive series of rough Minutes and of Committee Proceedings were preserved; and, not least in importance,
2983-599: Is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole. The word England is occasionally used incorrectly to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole, a mistake principally made by people from outside the UK. The term "Britain" is used as a synonym for Great Britain , but also sometimes for the United Kingdom. Usage is mixed: the UK Government prefers to use the term "UK" rather than "Britain" or "British" on its website (except when referring to embassies), while acknowledging that both terms refer to
3140-579: Is the Isle of Wight . Scotland accounts for 32 per cent of the UK, covering 30,410 square miles (78,772 km ). This includes nearly 800 islands , notably the Hebrides , Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. Scotland is the most mountainous constituent country of the UK, the Highlands to the north and west are the more rugged region containing the majority of Scotland's mountainous land, including
3297-642: Is the highest peak in Wales. Wales has over 1,680 miles (2,704 kilometres) of coastline including the Pembrokeshire Coast . Several islands lie off the Welsh mainland, the largest of which is Anglesey ( Ynys Môn ). Burning of Parliament The Palace of Westminster , the medieval royal palace used as the home of the British parliament , was largely destroyed by fire on 16 October 1834. The blaze
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#17327650684033454-588: The 1884 Reform Act championed by William Gladstone granting suffrage to a majority of males for the first time. The British population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation , causing significant social and economic stresses. By the late 19th century, the Conservatives under Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Salisbury initiated a period of imperial expansion in Africa , maintained
3611-534: The Atlantic slave trade , mainly between 1662 and 1807 when British or British-colonial slave ships transported nearly 3.3 million slaves from Africa. The slaves were taken to work on plantations , principally in the Caribbean but also North America . However, with pressure from the abolitionism movement , Parliament banned the trade in 1807, banned slavery in the British Empire in 1833, and Britain took
3768-650: The Battle of Culloden in 1746, after which the Scottish Highlanders were forcibly assimilated into Scotland by revoking the feudal independence of clan chiefs . The British colonies in North America that broke away in the American War of Independence became the United States . British imperial ambition turned towards Asia, particularly to India . British merchants played a leading part in
3925-663: The Cairngorms , Loch Lomond and The Trossachs and Ben Nevis which at 1,345 metres (4,413 ft) is the highest point in the British Isles. Wales accounts for less than 9 per cent of the UK, covering 8,020 square miles (20,779 km ). Wales is mostly mountainous, though South Wales is less mountainous than North and mid Wales . The highest mountains in Wales are in Snowdonia and include Snowdon ( Welsh : Yr Wyddfa ) which, at 1,085 metres (3,560 ft),
4082-523: The Commonwealth of Nations . The UK was the third country to develop a nuclear weapons arsenal (with its first atomic bomb test, Operation Hurricane , in 1952), but the post-war limits of Britain's international role were illustrated by the Suez Crisis of 1956. The international spread of the English language ensured the continuing international influence of its literature and culture . As
4239-532: The Declaration of Breda , and other public muniments which had "just been untombed from this mausoleum of historic remains" (as Thomas Duffus Hardy and his fellow Commissioners remarked). The succeeding Reports of the Commissioners were continued from 1900 onwards by calendars published by the House of Lords itself. During the time that the records were being identified and calendared on behalf of
4396-619: The Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms had to break into a burning room to save the parliamentary mace . At 9:00 pm three Guards regiments arrived on the scene. Although the troops assisted in crowd control, their arrival was also a reaction of the authorities to fears of a possible insurrection, for which the destruction of parliament could have signalled the first step. The three European revolutions of 1830—the French , Belgian and Polish actions—were still of concern, as were
4553-767: The European Convention on Human Rights . The UK remained a great power with global diplomatic and military influence and a leading role in the United Nations and NATO . The UK broadly supported the United States' approach to the " war on terror " in the early 21st century. British troops fought in the War in Afghanistan , but controversy surrounded Britain's military deployment in Iraq , which saw
4710-583: The European Union (EU) in 1992, the UK was one of the 12 founding member states. From the late 1960s, Northern Ireland suffered communal and paramilitary violence (sometimes affecting other parts of the UK) conventionally known as the Troubles . It is usually considered to have ended with the 1998 Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement . Following a period of widespread economic slowdown and industrial strife in
4867-494: The Falkland Islands , leading to the 10-week Falklands War in which Argentine forces were defeated. The inhabitants of the islands are predominantly descendants of British settlers, and strongly favour British sovereignty, expressed in a 2013 referendum . From 1984, the UK economy was helped by the inflow of substantial North Sea oil revenues. Another British overseas territory, Gibraltar , ceded to Great Britain in
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5024-777: The Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998 . In 2012 this corporate function moved to the Clerk of the Parliaments' office of the House of Lords. From 2000 to 2004 the air-conditioning and other environmental controls in the Victoria Tower were refurbished to bring it up to the British Standard for archival storage, BS 5454 , and from 2000 to 2005 a major project converted
5181-545: The French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815), the United Kingdom emerged as the principal naval and imperial power (with London the largest city in the world from about 1830). Unchallenged at sea , British dominance was later described as Pax Britannica ("British Peace"), a period of relative peace among the great powers (1815–1914) during which the British Empire became
5338-561: The Jewel Tower , where the main series of records had been preserved, but also in part owing to the efforts of a Lords clerk, Henry Stone Smith , who threw out of the blazing windows of the main building onto Old Palace Yard many hundreds of bundles of other Lords papers that had not been transferred to the Jewel Tower. These bundles for several decades after the fire led a confused existence, being virtually forgotten by those outside
5495-662: The Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland united under the Treaty of Union to create the Kingdom of Great Britain . The Acts of Union 1800 incorporated the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922 as the Irish Free State , and the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 created the present United Kingdom. The UK became
5652-650: The Labour Party emerged from an alliance of trade unions and small socialist groups in 1900, and suffragettes campaigned for women's right to vote. Britain was one of the principal Allies that defeated the Central Powers in the First World War (1914–1918). Alongside their French, Russian and (after 1917) American counterparts, British armed forces were engaged across much of the British Empire and in several regions of Europe, particularly on
5809-717: The Painted Chamber and the official residences of the Speaker and the Clerk of the House of Commons . The actions of Superintendent James Braidwood of the London Fire Engine Establishment ensured that Westminster Hall and a few other parts of the old Houses of Parliament survived the blaze. In 1836 a competition for designs for a new palace was won by Charles Barry . Barry's plans, developed in collaboration with Augustus Pugin , incorporated
5966-447: The Parliament Roll for that session for transfer to Chancery , retained in the House of Lords the complete series of sixteen enacted Bills, or Original Acts , from which he had made the enrolment. Since then, this series has been preserved continuously among the records of the House of Lords. By 1509, the Clerk of the Parliaments and his assistants (today known collectively as the Parliament Office) had hived off from Chancery, and in
6123-405: The Representation of the People Act 1918 . After the war, Britain became a permanent member of the Executive Council of the League of Nations and received a mandate over a number of former German and Ottoman colonies. Under the leadership of David Lloyd George , the British Empire reached its greatest extent, covering a fifth of the world's land surface and a quarter of its population. By
6280-463: The Soviet Union formed in 1941, leading the Allies against the Axis powers . There were eventual hard-fought victories in the Battle of the Atlantic , the North Africa campaign and the Italian campaign . British forces played important roles in the Normandy landings of 1944 and the liberation of Europe . The British Army led the Burma campaign against Japan, and the British Pacific Fleet fought Japan at sea. British scientists contributed to
6437-445: The Speaker of the House of Commons to look through the line of the building to see the Queen's throne in the House of Lords. Laid out around 11 courtyards, the building included several residences with accommodation for about 200 people, and comprised a total of 1,180 rooms, 126 staircases and 2 miles (3.2 km) of corridors. Between 1836 and 1837 Pugin made more detailed drawings on which estimates were made for
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6594-452: The United Kingdom ( UK ) or Britain , is a country in Northwestern Europe , off the coast of the continental mainland . It comprises England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland . The UK includes the island of Great Britain , the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland , and most of the smaller islands within the British Isles , making up a total area of 94,354 square miles (244,376 km ). Northern Ireland shares
6751-449: The Western Front . The high fatalities of trench warfare caused the loss of much of a generation of men, with lasting social effects in the nation and a great disruption in the social order. Britain had suffered 2.5 million casualties and finished the war with a huge national debt. The consequences of the war persuaded the government to expand the right to vote in national and local elections to all adult men and most adult women with
6908-408: The coastline paradox . It is connected to continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel , which at 31 miles (50 km) (24 miles (38 km) underwater) is the longest underwater tunnel in the world. The UK contains four terrestrial ecoregions: Celtic broadleaf forests , English Lowlands beech forests , North Atlantic moist mixed forests , and Caledonian conifer forests . The area of woodland in
7065-436: The largest protest in British history in opposition to the government led by Tony Blair . The Great Recession severely affected the UK economy. The Cameron–Clegg coalition government of 2010 introduced austerity measures intended to tackle the substantial public deficits. Studies have suggested that policy led to significant social disruption and suffering. A referendum on Scottish independence in 2014 resulted in
7222-430: The " Queen Victoria Tower ", steadily increased from that indicated in the original plan (of some 200 feet (61 m)) until, in 1855, when the wrought-iron flagstaff was at last put into position, the tower was proudly claimed to be not merely "the grandest feature of the building", but the largest and highest square tower in the world, 323 feet (98 m) high to the base of the flagstaff and 395 feet (120 m) high to
7379-512: The 16th century and established the Church of England . Moreover, it defined a national identity for England and slowly, but profoundly, changed people's religious beliefs. Wales was fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England , and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in personal union with the English crown. In what was to become Northern Ireland, the lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and given to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland. In 1603,
7536-401: The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, is a key military base . A referendum in 2002 on shared sovereignty with Spain was rejected by 98.97% of voters in the territory. Around the end of the 20th century, there were major changes to the governance of the UK with the establishment of devolved administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The statutory incorporation followed acceptance of
7693-406: The 1970s, the Conservative government of the 1980s led by Margaret Thatcher initiated a radical policy of monetarism , deregulation, particularly of the financial sector (for example, the Big Bang in 1986) and labour markets, the sale of state-owned companies (privatisation), and the withdrawal of subsidies to others. In 1982, Argentina invaded the British territories of South Georgia and
7850-476: The 5th century) united with the Picts to create the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century. In 1066, the Normans invaded England from northern France. After conquering England , they seized large parts of Wales , conquered much of Ireland and were invited to settle in Scotland, bringing to each country feudalism on the Northern French model and Norman-French culture. The Anglo-Norman ruling class greatly influenced, but eventually assimilated with,
8007-421: The Archives. Today the archives employs over 30 staff, including archivists, digital archivists, records managers, digitisation and collection care specialists. The team provide information management, preservation, access and outreach services enabling anyone in the world to use Parliament’s records, both now and in the future. The archives has an operational digital repository and is working to acquire and ensure
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#17327650684038164-464: The Brittonic area mainly to what was to become Wales , Cornwall and, until the latter stages of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, the Hen Ogledd (northern England and parts of southern Scotland). Most of the region settled by the Anglo-Saxons became unified as the Kingdom of England in the 10th century. Meanwhile, Gaelic speakers in north-west Britain (with connections to the north-east of Ireland and traditionally supposed to have migrated from there in
8321-415: The Commons to use as their debating chamber. The House of Lords met in the medieval hall of the Queen's Chamber, before moving to the Lesser Hall in 1801. Over the three centuries from 1547 the palace was enlarged and altered, becoming a warren of wooden passages and stairways. St Stephen's Chapel remained largely unchanged until 1692 when Sir Christopher Wren , at the time the Master of the King's Works,
8478-416: The Gothicists". Thirty-four of the competitors petitioned parliament against the selection of Barry, who was a friend of Cust, but their plea was rejected, and the former prime minister Sir Robert Peel defended Barry and the selection process. Barry planned an enfilade , or what Christopher Jones, the former BBC political editor, has called "one long spine of Lords' and Commons' Chambers" which enabled
8635-415: The Historical Manuscripts Commission they were also gradually being installed in a new repository. After the fire of 1834, the House of Lords gave directions that a new building must contain two "Fireproof Repositories for Papers and Documents". Charles Barry 's winning design had as its culminating feature a tower over the Royal entrance in which every storey included "Record Rooms". The height of this tower,
8792-472: The House of Commons, the series of some 241 original manuscript Journals, dating from 1547 to 1800, were deposited in the Victoria Tower, by authority of the Speaker of the House. Secondly, in 1937, the then-Clerk of the Parliaments, Sir Henry Badeley , initiated a survey of the entire Lords archive. The resulting report by V. M. R. Goodman revealed the necessity of a full-time staff (which the records did not then have) to undertake boxing, repair and production of
8949-422: The House of Lords , on 3 July 1963, with the intention, as he said, that "this new building may have a long and distinguished career... in the service of Parliament, history, and culture". This lasted until the late 1990s, when it became clear that the air-conditioning in the repository was failing to comply with required standards, and other services needed updating. From 1996 to 2000, a records management survey
9106-414: The King's throne was present in the palace, which signified that the building was at the centre of English royal administration. In 1295 Westminster was the venue for the Model Parliament , the first English representative assembly, summoned by Edward I ; during his reign he called sixteen parliaments, which sat either in the Painted Chamber or the White Chamber . By 1332 the barons (representing
9263-402: The Law Courts in a Neoclassical style. Soane also provided a new royal entrance, staircase and gallery, as well as committee rooms and libraries. The potential dangers of the building were apparent to some, as no fire stops or party walls were present in the building to slow the progress of a fire. In the late eighteenth century a committee of MPs predicted that there would be a disaster if
9420-404: The Lords ordered the printing of their Journals. Meanwhile, a second parliamentary archive, the records of the House of Commons , had been forming in another part of the Palace of Westminster. Initially, in the Middle Ages, it could be said that no formal records at all were made of the domestic proceedings of the House of Commons. From 1547, however, a Commons Journal survives, and, parallel with
9577-452: The Manhattan Project whose task was to build an atomic weapon. Once built, it was decided, with British consent, to use the weapon against Japan. The UK was one of the Big Three powers (along with the US and the Soviet Union) who met to plan the post-war world ; it drafted the Declaration by United Nations with the United States and became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . It worked closely with
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#17327650684039734-425: The Name of Great Britain". The term "United Kingdom" has occasionally been used as a description for the former Kingdom of Great Britain , although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was simply "Great Britain". The Acts of Union 1800 formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . Following the partition of Ireland and the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as
9891-411: The Normans conquered England . With the end of the Wars of the Roses the English state stabilised and began to grow in power, resulting by the 16th century in the annexation of Wales , the domination of Scotland , and the establishment of the British Empire . Over the course of the 17th century, the role of the British monarchy was reduced, particularly as a result of the English Civil War . In 1707,
10048-410: The Palace of Westminster. A public Search Room was opened, and when in the 1950s the Record Office Technical Committee highlighted the need for repairing the thousands of deposited plans in the Victoria Tower, two craftsmen were recruited specifically for this task. Today the conservation unit numbers six staff, on secondment from the British Library. The publication of calendars, which had ceased in 1922,
10205-424: The Palace of Westminster. He wrote that "the crowd behaved very well; only one man was taken up for huzzaing when the flames increased. ... on the whole, it was impossible for any large assemblage of people to behave better." Many of the MPs and peers present, including Lord Palmerston , the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs , helped break down doors to rescue books and other treasures, aided by passers-by;
10362-442: The Parliament Office, until, in 1870, the newly formed Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts began to issue regular reports. In them, the commission drew attention to the extent and variety of manuscripts preserved in the House of Lords. The first Report of the Commission brought to light a packet of letters which had been abandoned by Charles I at the Battle of Naseby , as well as the "annexed" Book of Common Prayer of 1662,
10519-402: The People Acts . In March 2022 it was announced that the archives would be relocating to The National Archives , Kew , by 2025. The archives also oversees records management for Parliament, has an active outreach programme and frequently appears on radio and TV programmes. The archive of the House of Lords originated in March 1497, when the then Clerk, Master Richard Hatton, having prepared
10676-430: The Prime Minister received an anonymous letter claiming that the fire was an arson attack. The committee issued its report on 8 November, which identified the burning of the tallies as the cause of the fire. The committee thought it unlikely that Cross and Furlong had been as careful in filling the furnaces as they had claimed, and the report stated that "it is unfortunate that Mr Weobley did not more effectively superintend
10833-428: The Royal Gallery. The House of Commons, along with its library and committee rooms, the official residence of the Clerk of the House and the Speaker's House, were devastated. Other buildings, such as the Law Courts, were badly damaged. The buildings within the complex which emerged relatively unscathed included Westminster Hall, the cloisters and undercroft of St Stephen's, the Jewel Tower and Soane's new buildings to
10990-495: The Scottish electorate voting by 55.3 to 44.7% to remain part of the United Kingdom. In 2016, 51.9 per cent of voters in the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union . The UK left the EU in 2020. On 1 May 2021, the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force. The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the UK's economy , caused major disruptions to education and had far-reaching impacts on society and politics in 2020 and 2021. The United Kingdom
11147-489: The Second World War damaged Britain's economic power and a global wave of decolonisation led to the independence of most British colonies. The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy . The UK has three distinct jurisdictions: England and Wales , Scotland , and Northern Ireland . Since 1999, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own governments and parliaments which control various devolved matters. A developed country ,
11304-501: The UK has the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP). It is a nuclear state , and is ranked fifth globally in military expenditure . The UK has been a permanent member of the UN Security Council since its first session in 1946. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , Council of Europe , G7 , OECD , NATO , Five Eyes , AUKUS and CPTPP . British influence can be observed in
11461-484: The UK in 2023 is estimated to be 3.25 million hectares, which represents 13% of the total land area in the UK. Most of the United Kingdom has a temperate climate, with generally cool temperatures and plentiful rainfall all year round. The temperature varies with the seasons seldom dropping below 0 °C (32 °F ) or rising above 30 °C (86 °F). Some parts, away from the coast, of upland England, Wales, Northern Ireland and most of Scotland, experience
11618-961: The UK into lowland and upland areas. Lowland areas include Cornwall , the New Forest , the South Downs and the Norfolk Broads . Upland areas include the Lake District , the Pennines , the Yorkshire Dales , Exmoor , and Dartmoor . The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames , Severn , and the Humber . England's highest mountain is Scafell Pike , at 978 metres (3,209 ft) in the Lake District; its largest island
11775-612: The Undercroft Chapel and the Cloisters of St Stephen's would all be incorporated into the new complex. There were 97 entries to the competition, which closed in November 1835; each entry was to be identifiable only by a pseudonym or symbol. The commission presented their recommendation in February 1836; the winning entry, which brought a prize of £1,500, was number 64, identified by a portcullis —the symbol chosen by
11932-402: The United Kingdom and that elsewhere "British government" is used at least as frequently as "United Kingdom government". The UK Permanent Committee on Geographical Names recognises "United Kingdom", "UK" and "U.K." as shortened and abbreviated geopolitical terms for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in its toponymic guidelines; it does not list "Britain" but notes that "it
12089-411: The United Kingdom is 1339.7 hours, which is just under 30% of the maximum possible. The hours of sunshine vary from 1200 to about 1580 hours per year, and since 1996 the UK has been and still is receiving above the 1981 to 2010 average hours of sunshine. Climate change has a serious impact on the country. A third of food price rise in 2023 is attributed to climate change. As of 2022, the United Kingdom
12246-436: The United Kingdom use several different terms to describe their national identity and may identify themselves as being British , English , Scottish , Welsh , Northern Irish , or Irish ; or as having a combination of different national identities. Settlement by Cro-Magnons of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred in waves beginning by about 30,000 years ago. The island has been continuously inhabited only since
12403-685: The United Kingdom. The 1928 Equal Franchise Act gave women electoral equality with men in national elections. Strikes in the mid-1920s culminated in the General Strike of 1926 . Britain had still not recovered from the effects of the First World War when the Great Depression (1929–1932) led to considerable unemployment and hardship in the old industrial areas, as well as political and social unrest with rising membership in communist and socialist parties. A coalition government
12560-640: The United States to establish the IMF , World Bank and NATO . The war left the UK severely weakened and financially dependent on the Marshall Plan , but it was spared the total war that devastated eastern Europe. In the immediate post-war years, the Labour government under Clement Attlee initiated a radical programme of reforms, which significantly impacted British society in the following decades . Major industries and public utilities were nationalised ,
12717-576: The acquisition and settlement of overseas colonies , particularly in North America and the Caribbean. Though previous attempts at uniting the two kingdoms within Great Britain in 1606, 1667, and 1689 had proved unsuccessful, the attempt initiated in 1705 led to the Treaty of Union of 1706 being agreed and ratified by both parliaments. On 1 May 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed,
12874-497: The act came into force, although it took until 1834 for the antiquated procedures to be replaced. The novelist Charles Dickens , in a speech to the Administrative Reform Association, described the retention of the tallies for so long as an "obstinate adherence to an obsolete custom"; he also mocked the bureaucratic steps needed to implement change from wood to paper. He said that "all the red tape in
13031-436: The architect Charles Barry . Uninspired by any English secular Elizabethan or Gothic buildings, Barry had visited Belgium to view examples of Flemish civic architecture before he drafted his design; to complete the necessary pen and ink drawings, which are now lost, he employed Augustus Pugin , a 23-year-old architect who was, in the words of the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner , "the most fertile and passionate of
13188-496: The architect Robert Smirke was appointed in December 1834 to design a replacement palace, pressure from the former MP Lieutenant Colonel Sir Edward Cust to open the process up to a competition gained popularity in the press and led to the formation in 1835 of a Royal Commission , which decided that although competitors would not be required to follow the outline of the original palace, the surviving buildings of Westminster Hall,
13345-878: The archives in the Victoria Tower of the Palace of Westminster on 5.5 miles of shelving. Some of the most important constitutional records of the United Kingdom are stored by the Archives, including the Petition of Right (1628), the Death Warrant of Charles I (1649), the Habeas Corpus Act 1679 , the draft and final Bill of Rights (1689), the Slave Trade Act (1807 and 1833), the Great Reform Act (1832), and successive Representation of
13502-547: The breeze came as if to encourage it: "there's a flare-up (what we call shine ) for the House o' Lords."—"A judgment for the Poor-Law Bill !"—"There go their hacts " (acts)! Such exclamations seemed to be the prevailing ones. A man sorry I did not anywhere see. This view was doubted by Sir John Hobhouse , the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests , who oversaw the upkeep of royal buildings, including
13659-587: The burning of the tallies". King William IV offered Buckingham Palace as a replacement to parliament; the proposal was declined by MPs who considered the building "dingy". Parliament still needed somewhere to meet, and the Lesser Hall and Painted Chamber were re-roofed and furnished for the Commons and Lords respectively for the State Opening of Parliament on 23 February 1835. Although
13816-462: The burning, and the news spreading quickly round London, ensured that crowds continued to turn up in increasing numbers to watch the spectacle. Among them was a reporter for The Times , who noticed that there were "vast gangs of the light-fingered gentry in attendance, who doubtless reaped a rich harvest, and [who] did not fail to commit several desperate outrages". The crowds were so thick that they blocked Westminster Bridge in their attempts to get
13973-668: The complex: Edward the Confessor built Westminster Abbey ; William the Conqueror began building a new palace; his son, William Rufus , continued the process, which included Westminster Hall , started in 1097; Henry III built new buildings for the Exchequer —the taxation and revenue gathering department of the country—in 1270 and the Court of Common Pleas , along with the Court of King's Bench and Court of Chancery . By 1245
14130-483: The country grew redder at the bare mention of this bold and original conception." By the time the replacement process had finished, there were two cart-loads of old tally sticks awaiting disposal. In October 1834 Richard Weobley, the Clerk of Works, received instructions from Treasury officials to clear the old tally sticks while parliament was adjourned . He decided against giving the sticks away to parliamentary staff to use as firewood, and instead opted to burn them in
14287-431: The course of the 16th century this newly independent Lords office gradually expanded and formalised its record keeping. In addition to the class of Original Acts already mentioned, the clerks preserved Journals of the House of Lords, now surviving from 1510, Petitions from 1531 and Bills from 1558. It seems, however, that the office was somewhat haphazard in its methods; Cardinal Wolsey , for instance, when Lord Chancellor ,
14444-736: The decades-long process of European integration , the UK was a founding member of the Western European Union , established with the London and Paris Conferences in 1954. In 1960 the UK was one of the seven founding members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), but in 1973 it left to join the European Communities (EC). In a 1975 referendum 67% voted to stay in it. When the EC became
14601-483: The eastern parts are the driest. Atlantic currents, warmed by the Gulf Stream , bring mild winters, especially in the west where winters are wet and even more so over high ground. Summers are warmest in the southeast of England and coolest in the north. Heavy snowfall can occur in winter and early spring on high ground, and occasionally settles to great depth away from the hills. The average total annual sunshine in
14758-530: The entire stock—with the vital exception of the Commons Journals—was consumed in the " tally stick fire ", which destroyed a great part of the fabric of the Palace of Westminster. The records had been stored in the House of Commons Library and various attics throughout the Commons, all of which went up in smoke. The House of Lords archive, however, survived. This was in part due to the isolated position of
14915-418: The events, Richard Reynolds, the firelighter in the Lords, later reported that he had seen Cross and Furlong throwing handfuls of tallies onto the fire—an accusation they both denied. Those tending the furnaces were unaware that the heat from the fires had melted the copper lining of the flues and started a chimney fire. With the doors of the furnaces open, more oxygen was drawn into the furnaces, which ensured
15072-671: The fire , and the Romantic painter John Constable , who sketched the fire from a hansom cab on Westminster Bridge. The destruction of the standard measurements led to an overhaul of the British weights and measures system. An inquiry that ran from 1838 to 1841 considered the two competing systems used in the country, the avoirdupois and troy measures, and decided that avoirdupois would be used forthwith; troy weights were retained solely for gold, silver and precious stones. The destroyed weights and measures were recast by William Simms ,
15229-429: The fire burned more fiercely, and the flames driven farther up the flues than they should have been. The flues had been weakened over time by having footholds cut in them by the child chimney sweeps . Although these footholds would have been repaired as the child exited on finishing the cleaning, the fabric of the chimney was still weakened by the action. In October 1834 the chimneys had not yet had their annual sweep, and
15386-529: The fire near the Hall was nearly out, although it continued to burn towards the south of the complex. The firemen remained in place until about 5:00 am, when they had extinguished the last remaining flames and the police and soldiers had been replaced by new shifts. The House of Lords, as well as its robing and committee rooms, were all destroyed, as was the Painted Chamber, and the connecting end of
15543-637: The fire. In the words of Shenton, the fire was "the most momentous blaze in London between the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz " of the Second World War. Despite the size and ferocity of the fire, there were no deaths, although there were nine casualties during the night's events that were serious enough to require hospitalisation. The day after the fire the Office of Woods and Forests issued
15700-404: The first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the " Pax Britannica " between 1815 and 1914. At its height in the 1920s, the British Empire encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and population, and was the largest empire in history . However, its involvement in the First World War and
15857-542: The first year, Britain and its Empire continued the war against Germany. Churchill engaged industry, scientists and engineers to support the government and the military in the prosecution of the war effort. In 1940, the Royal Air Force defeated the German Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain . Urban areas suffered heavy bombing during the Blitz . The Grand Alliance of Britain, the United States and
16014-471: The flames, help arrived from nearby parish fire engines; as there were only two hand-pump engines on the scene, they were of limited use. They were joined at 6:45 pm by 100 soldiers from the Grenadier Guards , some of whom helped the police in forming a large square in front of the palace to keep the growing crowd back from the firefighters; some of the soldiers assisted the firemen in pumping
16171-409: The floor coming through their boots. Shortly after 4:00 pm Cross and Furlong finished work, put the last few sticks into the furnaces—closing the doors as they did so—and left to go to the nearby Star and Garter public house. Shortly after 5:00 pm, heat and sparks from a flue ignited the woodwork above. The first flames were spotted at 6:00 pm, under the door of the House of Lords, by
16328-521: The formal control it exerted over its own colonies, British dominance of much of world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of regions such as East Asia and Latin America . Throughout the Victorian era , political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies. Beginning with the Great Reform Act in 1832, Parliament gradually widened the voting franchise , with
16485-481: The formation in the Lords of the main Parliamentary records under Bowyer and Elsynge, separate series of domestic records of the Commons began to accumulate, of Petitions and Papers (from the reign of Elizabeth I), of Return Books of Elections (from 1625) and of Minute Books of Committees (from 1623). By the early 19th century the House of Commons archive was extensive, but on the night of 16 October 1834 almost
16642-412: The foundation stone on 27 April 1840. The stone was badly quarried and handled, and with the polluted atmosphere in London it proved to be problematic, with the first signs of deterioration showing in 1849, and extensive renovations required periodically. Although there was a setback in progress with a stonemasons ' strike between September 1841 and May 1843, the House of Lords had its first sitting in
16799-762: The global hegemon and adopted the role of global policeman. From 1853 to 1856, Britain took part in the Crimean War , allied with the Ottoman Empire against Tsarist Russia , participating in the naval battles of the Baltic Sea known as the Åland War in the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland , among others. Following the Indian Rebellion in 1857 , the British government led by Lord Palmerston assumed direct rule over India . Alongside
16956-403: The kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in a personal union when James VI, King of Scots , inherited the crowns of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to London; each country nevertheless remained a separate political entity and retained its separate political, legal, and religious institutions. In the mid-17th century, all three kingdoms were involved in
17113-540: The largest conflagration in London between the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz of the Second World War ; the event attracted large crowds which included several artists who provided pictorial records of the event. The fire lasted for most of the night and destroyed a large part of the palace, including the converted St Stephen's Chapel —the meeting place of the House of Commons —the Lords Chamber,
17270-581: The largest in Western Europe , with a population of 14.9 million. The cities of Edinburgh , Cardiff , and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively. The lands of the UK have been inhabited continuously since the Neolithic . In AD 43 the Roman conquest of Britain began; the Roman departure was followed by Anglo-Saxon settlement . In 1066,
17427-408: The last retreat of the ice around 11,500 years ago. By the end of the region's prehistoric period , the population is thought to have belonged largely to a culture termed Insular Celtic , comprising Brittonic Britain and Gaelic Ireland . The Roman conquest , beginning in 43 AD, and the 400-year rule of southern Britain , was followed by an invasion by Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers, reducing
17584-409: The legal and political systems of many of its former colonies , and British culture remains globally influential, particularly in language , literature , music and sport . English is the world's most widely spoken language and the third-most spoken native language . The Acts of Union 1707 declared that the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by
17741-530: The local cultures. Subsequent medieval English kings completed the conquest of Wales and tried unsuccessfully to annex Scotland . Asserting its independence in the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath , Scotland maintained its independence thereafter, albeit in near-constant conflict with England . In 1215 the Magna Carta was the first document to state that no government was above the law, that citizens have rights protecting them and that they were entitled to
17898-490: The long term preservation of Parliament's digital records. New collections also include a web archive which maintains a history of the main parliamentary website and its many subsites . In March 2021, the Parliamentary Archives became an Accredited Archive Service. In March 2022, it was announced that the Parliamentary Archives would be relocating to The National Archives, Kew, by 2025. The reasons for
18055-627: The major part of the British Isles archipelago and includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and some smaller surrounding islands. It lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea with the southeast coast coming within 22 miles (35 km) of the coast of northern France, from which it is separated by the English Channel . The Royal Greenwich Observatory in London
18212-531: The manuscripts. The Second World War intervened, but in 1946 Badeley set up a House of Lords Record Office, under a Clerk of the Records who was to act as the deputy of the Clerk of the Parliaments in all record matters. To the Clerk of the Records was entrusted the care of the contents of the Victoria Tower, including both Lords and Commons documents and certain other small groups of records relating to
18369-412: The members were really to be pitied". When the future Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone remembered his arrival as a new MP in 1832, he recounted "What I may term corporeal conveniences were ... marvellously small. I do not think that in any part of the building it afforded the means of so much as washing the hands." The facilities were so poor that, in debates in 1831 and 1834, Joseph Hume ,
18526-674: The mid-1920s, most of the British population could listen to BBC radio programmes. Experimental television broadcasts began in 1929 and the first scheduled BBC Television Service commenced in 1936. The rise of Irish nationalism , and disputes within Ireland over the terms of Irish Home Rule , led eventually to the partition of the island in 1921. A period of conflict in what is now Northern Ireland occurred from June 1920 until June 1922. The Irish Free State became independent, initially with Dominion status in 1922, and unambiguously independent in 1931 . Northern Ireland remained part of
18683-672: The middle of the eighteenth century, and in the early nineteenth century by James Wyatt and Sir John Soane . Vardy added the Stone Building, in a Palladian style to the West side of Westminster Hall; Wyatt enlarged the Commons, moved the Lords into the Court of Requests and rebuilt the Speaker's House. Soane, taking on responsibility for the palace complex on Wyatt's death in 1813, undertook rebuilding of Westminster Hall and constructed
18840-523: The move include challenging environmental conditions of Victoria Tower and increased need for public access to the collections. The head of the archives was known as the Clerk of the Records until a change of job title in 2009 to Director of the Parliamentary Archives. Since 1946 this post has been held by: 51°29′54″N 0°07′31″W / 51.4983°N 0.1254°W / 51.4983; -0.1254 United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as
18997-459: The new chamber in 1847. In 1852 the Commons was finished, and both Houses sat in their new chambers for the first time; Queen Victoria first used the newly completed royal entrance. In the same year, while Barry was appointed a Knight Bachelor , Pugin suffered a mental breakdown and, following incarceration at Bethlehem Pauper Hospital for the Insane , died at the age of 40. The clock tower
19154-463: The only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed in 1927 to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also widely referred to as countries . The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom. Some statistical summaries, such as those for
19311-474: The palace caught fire. This was followed by a 1789 report from fourteen architects warning against the possibility of fire in the palace; signatories included Soane and Robert Adam . Soane again warned of the dangers in 1828, when he wrote that "the want of security from fire, the narrow, gloomy and unhealthy passages, and the insufficiency of the accommodations in this building are important objections which call loudly for revision and speedy amendment." His report
19468-529: The palace's completion; reports of the cost estimates vary from £707,000 to £725,000, with six years until completion of the project. In June 1838 Barry and colleagues undertook a tour of Britain to locate a supply of stone for the building, eventually choosing Magnesian Limestone from the Anston quarry of the Duke of Leeds . Work started on building the river frontage on 1 January 1839, and Barry's wife laid
19625-465: The paper finding aids of the collections into a single on-line catalogue, known as Portcullis. In 1999, the House of Lords Record Office took on the subsidiary title of Parliamentary Archives in order to clarify the custodial responsibility and whereabouts of the House of Commons Archives for members of the public, and in 2006 this became its official name. Historical collections of the House of Commons Library and Lords Library are also available in
19782-652: The preservation of future archives. Their published recommendations in 1837 led to the Public Record Act (1838), which set up the Public Record Office , initially based in Chancery Lane . The fire became the "single most depicted event in nineteenth-century London ... attracting to the scene a host of engravers, watercolourists and painters". Among them were J. M. W. Turner , the landscape painter, who later produced two pictures of
19939-401: The preservation of the parliamentary records. The first concerned the records of the Commons. In 1927 the Clerk of the House of Commons resolved to transfer to the Victoria Tower an extensive post-1834 series of Private Bill records, though still retaining ultimate ownership of them for the House. This precedent has been followed by succeeding Clerks of the Commons, and in 1957 the core records of
20096-562: The protection of the LFEE. Some of the firefighters ran their hoses down to the Thames. The river was at low tide and it meant a poor supply of water for the engines on the river side of the building. By the time Braidwood and his men had arrived on the scene, the House of Lords had been destroyed. A strong south-westerly breeze had fanned the flames along the wood-panelled and narrow corridors into St Stephen's Chapel. Shortly after his arrival
20253-487: The purpose of each tally had come to an end, they were routinely destroyed. By the end of the eighteenth century the usefulness of the tally system had likewise come to an end, and a 1782 Act of Parliament stated that all records should be on paper, not tallies. The Act also abolished sinecure positions in the Exchequer, but a clause in the act ensured it could only take effect once the remaining sinecure-holders had died or retired. The final sinecure-holder died in 1826 and
20410-525: The records were assigned a permanent home at the south west corner of the Palace of Westminster , in a moated building (still surviving, and open to the public), the 14th-century Jewel Tower . Here the principal records of the Lords remained from 1621 to 1864, being available throughout this period for inspection by the public. The contents of some were given still wider currency in the 18th century as certain Bills and Papers began to be printed, and when, in 1767,
20567-504: The rest of Europe, royal absolutism would not prevail, and a professed Catholic could never accede to the throne. The British constitution would develop on the basis of constitutional monarchy and the parliamentary system . With the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, science was greatly encouraged. During this period, particularly in England, the development of naval power and the interest in voyages of discovery led to
20724-587: The result of the Acts of Union 1707 between the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland . In the 18th century, cabinet government developed under Robert Walpole , in practice the first prime minister (1721–1742). A series of Jacobite uprisings sought to remove the Protestant House of Hanover from the throne and restore the Catholic House of Stuart . The Jacobites were finally defeated at
20881-459: The roof of the chapel collapsed; the resultant noise was so loud that the watching crowds thought there had been a Gunpowder Plot -style explosion. According to The Manchester Guardian , "By half-past seven o'clock the engines were brought to play upon the building both from the river and the land side, but the flames had by this time acquired such a predominance that the quantity of water thrown upon them produced no visible effect." Braidwood saw it
21038-443: The scientific instrument maker, who produced the replacements after "countless hours of tests and experiments to determine the best metal, the best shape of bar, and the corrections for temperature". The Palace of Westminster has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, and is classified as being of outstanding universal value. UNESCO describe the site as being "of great historic and symbolic significance", in part because it
21195-406: The south. The British standard measurements , the yard and pound , were both lost in the blaze; the measurements had been created in 1496. Also lost were most of the procedural records for the House of Commons, which dated back as far as the late 15th century. The original Acts of Parliament from 1497 survived, as did the Lords' Journals, all of which were stored in the Jewel Tower at the time of
21352-556: The surviving buildings into the new complex. The competition established Gothic Revival as the predominant national architectural style and the palace has since been categorised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site of outstanding universal value. The Palace of Westminster originally dates from the early eleventh century when Canute the Great built his royal residence on the north side of the River Thames . Successive kings added to
21509-448: The tally sticks began at dawn on 16 October and continued throughout the day; two Irish labourers, Joshua Cross and Patrick Furlong, were assigned the task. Weobley checked in on the men throughout the day, claiming subsequently that, on his visits, both furnace doors were open, which allowed the two labourers to watch the flames, while the piles of sticks in both furnaces were only ever four inches (ten centimetres) high. Another witness to
21666-435: The titled classes) and burgesses and citizens (representing the commons) began to meet separately, and by 1377 the two bodies were entirely detached. In 1512 a fire destroyed part of the royal palace complex and Henry VIII moved the royal residence to the nearby Palace of Whitehall , although Westminster still retained its status as a royal palace. In 1547 Henry's son, Edward VI , provided St Stephen's Chapel for
21823-418: The top of the crown at its summit. Within the tower, cast-iron spiral staircases of 553 steps linked twelve floors, and on most of the floors there were eight strong rooms—accommodation at that time so ample for the parliamentary records that at one stage the tower was intended also to house the principal holdings of the Public Record Office . During the twentieth century, two important developments occurred in
21980-436: The twelve NUTS 1 regions , refer to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as "regions". Northern Ireland is also referred to as a "province". With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences". The term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination. It
22137-433: The two heating furnaces of the House of Lords, directly below the peers' chambers. The furnaces had been designed to burn coal—which gives off a high heat with little flame—and not wood, which burns with a high flame. The flues of the furnaces ran up the walls of the basement in which they were housed, under the floors of the Lords' chamber, then up through the walls and out through the chimneys. The process of destroying
22294-584: The unrest from the Captain Swing riots , and the recent passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 , which altered the relief provided by the workhouse system. At around 1:30 am the tide had risen enough to allow the LFEE's floating fire engine to arrive on the scene. Braidwood had called for the engine five hours previously, but the low tide had hampered its progress from its downriver mooring at Rotherhithe . Once it arrived it
22451-469: The water supply from the engines. The London Fire Engine Establishment (LFEE)—an organisation run by several insurance companies in the absence of a publicly run brigade—was alerted at about 7:00 pm, by which time the fire had spread from the House of Lords. The head of the LFEE, James Braidwood , brought with him 12 engines and 64 firemen, even though the Palace of Westminster was a collection of uninsured government buildings, and therefore fell outside
22608-407: The wife of one of the doorkeepers; she entered the chamber to see Black Rod's box alight, and flames burning the curtains and wood panels, and raised the alarm. For 25 minutes the staff inside the palace initially panicked and then tried to deal with the blaze, but they did not call for assistance, or alert staff at the House of Commons, at the other end of the palace complex. At 6:30 pm there
22765-439: Was a flashover , a giant ball of flame that The Manchester Guardian reported "burst forth in the centre of the House of Lords, ... and burnt with such fury that in less than half an hour, the whole interior ... presented ... one entire mass of fire." The explosion, and the resultant burning roof, lit up the skyline, and could be seen by the royal family in Windsor Castle , 20 miles (32 km) away. Alerted by
22922-418: Was again ignored. Since medieval times the Exchequer had used tally sticks , pieces of carved, notched wood, normally willow, as part of their accounting procedures. The parliamentary historian Caroline Shenton has described the tally sticks as "roughly as long as the span of an index finger and thumb". These sticks were split in two so that the two sides to an agreement had a record of the situation. Once
23079-429: Was caused by the burning of small wooden tally sticks which had been used as part of the accounting procedures of the Exchequer until 1826. The sticks were disposed of carelessly in the two furnaces under the House of Lords , which caused a chimney fire in the two flues that ran under the floor of the Lords' chamber and up through the walls. The resulting fire spread rapidly throughout the complex and developed into
23236-416: Was chosen as the defining point of the Prime Meridian at the International Meridian Conference in 1884. The United Kingdom lies between latitudes 49° and 61° N , and longitudes 9° W and 2° E . Northern Ireland shares a 224-mile (360 km) land boundary with the Republic of Ireland. The coastline of Great Britain is 11,073 miles (17,820 km) long, though measurements can vary greatly due to
23393-450: Was completed in 1858, and the Victoria Tower in 1860; Barry died in May that year, before the building work was completed. The final stages of the work were overseen by his son, Edward , who continued working on the building until 1870. The total cost of the building came to around £2.5 million. In 1836 the Royal Commission on Public Records was formed to look into the loss of the parliamentary records, and make recommendations on
23550-447: Was effective in bringing under control the fire that had taken hold in the Speaker's House. Braidwood regarded Westminster Hall as safe from destruction by 1:45 am, partly because of the actions of the floating fire engine, but also because a change in the direction of the wind kept the flames away from the Hall. Once the crowd realised that the hall was safe they began to disperse, and had left by around 3:00 am, by which time
23707-404: Was formed in 1931. Nonetheless, "Britain was a very wealthy country, formidable in arms, ruthless in pursuit of its interests and sitting at the heart of a global production system." After Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Britain entered the Second World War . Winston Churchill became prime minister and head of a coalition government in 1940. Despite the defeat of its European allies in
23864-400: Was found in 1948 to be defective both in its structure and its equipment. In the course of the following years the interior of the Tower was therefore almost entirely rebuilt by the Ministry of Public Building and Works. The resulting repository was air conditioned and contained 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of steel shelving on twelve floors. It was declared open by the Viscount Hailsham , Leader of
24021-423: Was instructed to make structural alterations. He lowered the roof, removed the stained glass windows, put in a new floor and covered the original gothic architecture with wood panelling. He also added galleries from which the public could watch proceedings. The result was described by one visitor to the chamber as "dark, gloomy, and badly ventilated, and so small ... when an important debate occurred ...
24178-446: Was resumed in 1949 and continued to the 1980s. In 1975 the major acquisition of the collections of the Beaverbrook Library expanded the collection to include the papers of David Lloyd George , Bonar Law , and Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook . The principal activity of the House of Lords Record Office, however, in the immediate post-war years concerned the reconstruction of the repository. The Victoria Tower, although ample in dimensions,
24335-432: Was the first country in the world to use an approved COVID-19 vaccine , developing its own vaccine through a collaboration between Oxford University and AstraZeneca , which allowed the UK's vaccine rollout to be among the fastest in the world. The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately 94,354 square miles (244,376 km ), with a land area of 93,723 square miles (242,741 km ). The country occupies
24492-399: Was too late to save most of the palace, so elected to focus his efforts on saving Westminster Hall, and he had his firemen cut away the part of the roof that connected the hall to the already burning Speaker's House, and then soak the hall's roof to prevent it catching fire. In doing so he saved the medieval structure at the expense of those parts of the complex already ablaze. The glow from
24649-471: Was undertaken of most of the administrative offices of the Palace of Westminster . The survey findings were incorporated into the Parliamentary Records Management Policy Guidelines , which was approved by both houses. This was followed by a project to implement corporate records management to international standards in Parliament. In 2001, a new post of Freedom of Information Officer was created to develop and implement policies for House of Lords' compliance with
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