Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-01-27
SCENES OF THE oUTRAGES.
INTERCHANGEABLE HISTORY
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Westminster Hall was added by VIII
liam Rufus 10 the ancient palace Of
Westminster, ard he held his first
court in Il in 1899. II was preserved
BY Barry rs the vcstibule of the new
houses Of Parliament. Aftcr the hall
was built by the command Of William
RUFUS, Il was repaired and raised in
height toward the end Of the reign Of
Richard II. The early Parliamcnts
were held in il, and the law
courts used to sit in it. There
10 . famous old wood-cut much in
favor with practicing barristers, which
represents the interior Of Westminster
Hall in full term. Against the wall are
four little wooden pews. Of which one
contains the Lord Chancellor, and the
other three respectively the justices OF
the Queens Bench, the justices Of the
Common Pleas. and the Barens Of Ex-
chequcr. The hall was used as the d.
ning-room Of the original Palace Of
Westminster. The hall itself is Of i'm
posing dimensions, being $50 feet in
length, 6s feet in width. and % feet in
height.
The device Of Richard Ill, white
hart. cosehant, still appears on the
stone mouldings. Parliament assem-
bled in Westminster Hall as early as
124s.
Before the recently demolished law
courts were erected on the west side of
the hall litigation had so greatly in
creased that il at last became impossible
for the judges to sit in Westminster
Hall itself, and accordingly the courts
were constructed as an annex to the
hall itself. Anything more inconvenient
than their design and structure it was
impossible TO conceive. The courts
themselves were crampcd, ill-lighted.
ill-yentilated, and they all had
most inadequate access. The
corridors and passages which led TO
them were dark and narrow. Some OF
the courts were higher than the roof OF
Westminster Hall itself. When these
announcement buildings were swept away
the space to the west Of Westminster
Hall remained open and gave an unin-
terrupted view from Broad Sanctuary
and the opening Of Palace Yard down
toward the statue of Ceur de Lion.
The hall at last became what Berry in
tended il 10 be--thc vestibule of the
houses Of Parliament.
Many important historical events
have transpired in the wrecked build
ing. Here Sir William Wallace was
tried and condemned, as were Protector
Somerset, Sir Thomas More, and the
Earl Of STAFFORD. Here sat the High
Court Of Justice which condemned
Charles ]. Here Cromwell was in
augurated Lord Protector June 20,
1857. At Westminster-Hall gate
Charles III. was proclaimed King
Nav &. LOGO. Here the Duchess of
Kingston's trial for bigamy was con-
Quoted. and here Warren Hastings's
seyen-years' trial took place. These
are but few Of the bewildering asso-
ciations Of this historic spot. The in
terror of Westminster Hall was, until
the middle Of the last century, filled
with shops and stalls, principally of
booksellers. Many books. tracts, and
pamphlets before that time bear the i'm
print of Westminster Hall.
The courts of law at the side of the
hall were removed to the Strand Janu-
uary IL, 1883, and the buildings were
subsequently, demolished.
Adjoining to the courts of law is the
site of the ancient "houseS of Lords
and Commons, which were accidentally
destroyed October l6, 1884, by some
officials employed to burn the used
wooden tallies Of the Court of En-
chequer, and who. in doing so, over
heated the fues and set fire to the
woodwork of the library. Westmin
ter Hall was saved with difficulty, and
the abbey itself was at one time in dan
ger.