Parliament_Square,_London

Parliament Square

Parliament Square

Square in London, England

For other uses, see Parliament Square (disambiguation).

Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contains twelve statues of statesmen and other notable individuals.

Parliament Square in 2023

As well as being one of London's main tourist attractions, it is also the place where many demonstrations and protests have been held. The square is overlooked by various official buildings: legislature to the east (in the Houses of Parliament), governmental executive offices to the north (on Whitehall), the judiciary to the west (the Supreme Court), and the church to the south (with Westminster Abbey).

Location

Buildings looking upon the square include the churches Westminster Abbey and St Margaret's, Westminster, the Middlesex Guildhall which is the seat of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Government Offices Great George Street serving HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs, and Portcullis House.

Roads that branch off the Parliament Square are St Margaret Street (towards Millbank), Broad Sanctuary (towards Victoria Street), Great George Street (towards Birdcage Walk), Parliament Street (leading into Whitehall) and Bridge Street (leading onto Westminster Bridge).

History

Streets around Parliament Square in 1888
1949 proposed layout of Parliament Square with the former location of Buxton Memorial Fountain marked in red.

Original layout

Parliament Square was laid out in 1868 in order to open up the space around the Palace of Westminster and improve traffic flow, and featured London's first traffic signals. A substantial amount of property had to be cleared from the site. The architect responsible was Sir Charles Barry. Its original features included the Buxton Memorial Fountain, which was removed in 1949 and placed in its present position in nearby Victoria Tower Gardens in 1957.

In 1949 the design for the replanning of the Parliament Square area, Westminster, London was carried out by the architect, George Grey Wornum (1888–1957)[1]

Post Second World War changes

The plans to redesign the Square predated the Second World War as the Ministry of Transport suggested:

that a larger central island was necessary to allow traffic more room in Great George Street. If the northern side of the central island were lengthened it was expected that the frequent traffic blocks at the junction of Parliament Street and Bridge Street with Parliament Square would be greatly reduced.[2]

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Following the war, London County Council submitted a revised plan that was agreed by the Ministry of Transport and legislated for by Parliament with the Parliament Square (Improvements) Act 1949.The Act was required due to the mixed ownership of the land. The redesign included putting new roads, pavement and gardens in the area.

As St George Street[Great George Street?] was widened and an existing road was moved, the Buxton Memorial Fountain had to be removed. Because Victorian style architecture was unpopular at the time, some in Parliament argued it should never be re-erected: at least one parliamentarian said it had "no artistic merit whatever"[3] The Act provided that the fountain could be removed, but required its re-erection.

The central garden of the square was transferred from the Parliamentary Estate to the control of the Greater London Authority by the Greater London Authority Act 1999. It has responsibility to light, cleanse, water, pave, and repair the garden, and has powers to make bylaws for the garden.

Public demonstrations

The east side of the square, lying opposite one of the main entrances to the Palace of Westminster, has historically been a common site of protest against government action or inaction. On May Day 2000 the square was transformed into a giant allotment by a Reclaim the Streets guerrilla gardening action. Most recently, Brian Haw staged a continual protest there for several years, campaigning against British and American action in Iraq. Starting on 2 June 2001, Haw left his post only once, on 10 May 2004 – and then because he had been arrested on the charge of failing to leave the area during a security alert – and returned the following day when he was released. The alleged disruption caused by Haw's protest led Parliament to insert a clause into the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 making it illegal to protest in Parliament Square (or, indeed, in a large area reaching roughly half a mile in all directions) without first seeking[obtaining?] the permission of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

The provisions of that Act relating to Parliament Square were repealed by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, which provides for a different regime of "prohibited activities".[4]

As well as sparking a great deal of protest from various groups on the grounds of infringement of civil liberties including the European Convention on Human Rights, the Act[2005 or 2011?] was initially unsuccessful in accomplishing its goals: Brian Haw was held to be exempt from needing authorisation in a High Court ruling, as his protest had started before the Act came into effect (though any new protests would be covered); Haw remained in Parliament Square. Later, the Court of Appeal overturned this ruling, forcing Haw to apply for police authorisation to continue his protest.

Statues

The square is home to twelve statues of British, Commonwealth, and Anglosphere political figures. They are listed here in anti-clockwise order, beginning with Winston Churchill's statue, which faces Parliament.

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Demonstrations

The Parliament Square Peace Campaign was a peace campaign started by Brian Haw in 2001 and carried on by Barbara Tucker until 2013.[18][19]

In May 2010, a peace camp known as Democracy Village was set up on the square to protest (initially) against the British government's involvement in invasions in the Middle East, which became an eclectic movement encompassing left-wing causes and anti-globalisation protests.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson appealed to the courts to have them removed and, after demonstrators lost an appeal in July 2010, Lord Neuberger ruled that the protesters camping on the square should be evicted.[20] The final tents were removed in January 2012.[21]

Panorama

Panoramic view from the centre of Parliament Square in June 2009 (left to right): Government offices; Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster; St Margaret's and Westminster Abbey; Middlesex Guildhall of the Supreme Court.

References

Citations
  1. [1]
    "Design for the replanning of the Parliament Square area, Westminster, London". RIBApix.
  2. [2]
    "Parliament Square (Improvements) Bill Debate". Hansard Parliament. 23 November 1949.
  3. [3]
    "Parliament Square (Improvements) Bill". Hansard UK Parliament. 23 November 1949.
  4. [4]
    The law and history on protest around Parliament, including the ban that was enforced under SOCPA and the narrower restrictions under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 are analysed in an article on protest in Parliament Square. Kiron Reid 'Letting Down the Drawbridge: Restoration of the Right to Protest at Parliament'. (2013) 1 Law Crime and History 16 (pp. 16–51) (Internet (free access)). ISSN 2045-9238. The file is a pdf.
  5. [5]
    Howard, Philip (2 November 1973). "Resolute and defiant as ever, Churchill's statue is revealed". The Times.
  6. [6]
    "Winston Churchill's statue 'had a look of Mussolini'". The Daily Telegraph. London. 1 January 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  7. [7]
    "Lloyd George statue 'is a disgrace'". The Independent. 26 October 2007. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  8. [8]
    Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 206–10
  9. [9]
    Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 195–97
  10. [10]
    Ward-Jackson 2011, p. 192
  11. [11]
    Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 200–03
  12. [12]
    "Noble, Matthew (bap. 1817, d. 1876), sculptor". Your Archives. The National Archives. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  13. [13]
    Ward-Jackson 2011, pp. 190–92
  14. [14]
    "The statue of Abraham Lincoln in Parliament Square". Your Archives. The National Archives. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  15. [15]
    "London Mandela statue for Parliament Sq". BBC News. 29 August 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  16. [16]
    James Dunn (14 March 2015). "Gandhi statue unveiled in Parliament Square – next to his old enemy Churchill". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  17. [17]
    "Millicent Fawcett: Statue of suffragist unveiled". BBC News. 24 April 2018.
  18. [18]
    "Parliament Square peace campaigner Brian Haw dies". BBC. 19 June 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  19. [19]
    Peace at last! Final anti-war protesters leave Parliament Square after 12 years 9 May 2013 standard.co.uk
  20. [20]
    "Parliament Square protesters lose eviction appeal – BBC News". BBC. 16 July 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  21. [21]
    "Parliament protest camp removed". BBC News. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
Bibliography
  • Ward-Jackson, Philip (2011). Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster: Volume 1. Public Sculpture of Britain. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.

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