THE PALACE OP WESTMINSTER.

51

The sole portion left entire was the crypt of St. Stephen’s Chapel, which, as appears from a rolldiscovered a few years since, was huilt on a concrete basis, in the reign of Edward I. , and will bepreserved in the New Palace.

The destruction of the House of Commons was complete, and it was so far fortunate that Parliament was prorogued, and as there was every probability that it would not he called together again beforePebruary in the following year (1835), there was time to make temporary accommodation for thetwo Houses.

Government accordingly gave immediate directions for the necessary preparations, and it was orderedthat the Painted Chamber which, for many years previous to the conflagration, had been used as theroom in which the conferences between the two Houses were held, having been partially spared, shouldhe fitted up as the temporary House of Lords : the walls had to he elevated about one-third; it was thencovered in with a hoarded ceiling and slated roof.

The late House of Lords (the ancient Court of Requests) was then put in thorough repair,and fitted up for the assembly of the Commons. The dimensions of this apartment, which has beenalready spoken of, are in length from north to south about one hundred and twenty feet, thirty-eightfeet in breadth, and of a proportionate height. The original room is most undoubtedly of very ancientstructure, and if not the original great Hall of the Confessor’s Palace, which it is supposed to havebeen, was assuredly enriched at a very early period of the Norman line, of which evidences wereeasily traced in the mouldings surmounting the three windows at the south end, when laid open afterthe fire. It is still occupied by the Commons until the apartments in the New Palace are ready for theirreception.

With remarkable celerity the work, being commenced in November 1834, was completed in asatisfactory and even elegant manner, so as to he entirely ready for the Meeting of Parliament,which took place on the 19th of Pebruary, 1835. Sir Robert Smirke was the architect employed.In these Chambers the two Houses assembled until the prorogation, and then, on the close of theSession, further alterations were made, and additional lobbies and temporary rooms added in com-munication with both Chambers, the whole costing a sum amounting nearly to £50,000; hut itmust be remembered, that however large this expenditure may appear, such was the necessity forthe completion of the arrangements within a very short space of time, that the amount cannot bedeemed excessive, and the work was, moreover, most competently executed.