Page 80 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - London

78  L ONDON AREA B Y AREA

3 Jewel Tower on to Little Dean’s Yard, where
the monks’ living quarters used
Abingdon St SW1. Map 13 B5.
Tel 020 7222 2219. 1 Westminster. to be. Dean’s Yard is private
Open Apr–Sep: 10am–6pm daily; Oct property. It belongs to the Dean
10am–5pm daily; Nov–Mar: 10am– and Chapter of Westminster and
4pm Sat & Sun. Closed 24 Dec– 1 Jan. is close to Westminster School,
& 7 ground floor only. = whose former pupils include
∑ english-heritage.org.uk poet John Dryden and playwright
Ben Jonson. Its scholars are, by
This and Westminster Hall (see tradition, the first to acknow­
p76) are the only remaining ledge a new monarch.
vestiges of the old Palace of
Westminster. The tower was
built in 1365 as a stronghold 6 St Margaret’s
for Edward III’s treasure and Church
today houses a fascinating
exhibition, “Parliament Past and Parliament Sq SW1. Map 13 B5.
Present”, which relates the history Tel 020 7654 4840. 1 Westminster.
of Parliament. The display on Open 9:30am–3:30pm Mon–Fri,
the upper floor is devoted to the 9:30am–1:30pm Sat, 2–4:30pm Sun.
5 11am Sun. ^ 7 via North Door
history of the tower itself. ∑ westminster-abbey.org/
The tower served as the Weights st-margarets-church
and Measures office from 1869
until 1938 and another small Overshadowed by the Abbey,
display relates to that era. this late 15th­century church
Alongside are the remains of has long been a favoured venue
the moat and a medieval quay. for political and society weddings,
such as Winston and Clementine
4 Westminster Churchill’s. Although much
The world’s most famous clock tower, which restored, the church retains some
houses Big Ben Abbey Tudor features, notably a stained­
glass window commemorating
2 Big Ben See pp80–83. the marriage of King Henry VIII and
his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
Bridge St SW1. Map 13 C5. 1 West­ 5 Dean’s Yard
minster. 8 Elizabeth Tower closed for
restoration until early 2020; tours are Broad Sanctuary SW1. Map 13 B5. 7 Parliament
suspended for the full duration. 1 Westminster. Buildings Closed to Square
the public.
Big Ben is not the name of the SW1. Map 13 B5. 1 Westminster.
world­famous four­faced clock in An arch near the west door
the 96 m (315 ft) tower that rises of the Abbey leads into this Laid out in the 1868 to provide
above the Houses of Parliament, secluded grassy square, a more open aspect for the new
but of the resonant 13.7­tonne surrounded by a jumble of Houses of Parliament, the square
bell on which the hours are build ings from many different became Britain’s first official
struck, thought to be named after periods. A medieval house on roundabout in 1926. Today it is
the Chief Commissioner of Works the east side has a distinctive hemmed in by heavy traffic.
Sir Benjamin Hall. Cast at White­ dormer window and backs Statues of statesmen and soldiers
chapel in 1858, it was the second are dominated by Winston
giant bell made for the clock, the Churchill in his greatcoat,
first having become cracked glowering at the House of
during a test ringing. The clock is Commons. On the north side,
the largest in Britain, its four dials Abraham Lincoln stands in front
7 m (23 ft) in diameter and the of the mock­Gothic Middlesex
minute hand 4.2 m (14 ft) long, Guildhall, completed in 1913.
made in hollow copper for light­
ness. It has kept exact time for the
nation more or less contin uously 8 Cenotaph
since it was first set in motion in Whitehall SW1. Map 13 B4.
May 1859, and has become a 1 Westminster.
symbol of Britain the world over.
The tower itself was renamed This sombre monument, comp­
the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 in leted in 1920 by Sir Edwin Lutyens
honour of Queen Elizabeth II in Entrance to the Abbey and cloisters from to commemorate the dead of
her Diamond Jubilee year. Dean’s Yard World War I, stands in the middle

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