Parliament Square

Parliament Square is a square in London, immediately north-west of the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the British Parliament. In the middle of the square is a large green area, the traffic flows in the form of a roundabout in a clockwise direction.

Location

Around the square are located next to the Palace of Westminster and other important buildings. These are the Westminster Abbey, St. Margaret 's Church, the Middlesex Guildhall, the UK Treasury (HM Treasury), the Westminster Central Hall and the Portcullis House. Below the Portcullis House is the Westminster Station London Underground.

Following roads leading from the square: To the south, St. Margaret Street, Great George Street to the west, to the southwest Broad Sanctuary, north Parliament Street ( goes in Whitehall over ), to the East Bridge Street ( Westminster Bridge ).

History

Parliament Square was built in 1868 in the course of the construction of the Palace of Westminster. The terrain should be loosened and improves the flow of traffic. Numerous land had to be cleared for this purpose. The architect responsible was Charles Barry. A special feature was the world's first traffic light, which was set up on 10 December 1868 the square and powered by gas light. In the square there was once also a fountain; the Buxton Memorial Fountain was removed, however, in 1940, and set him in 1957 in the nearby Victoria Tower Gardens again. In 1950 architect George Grey Wornum before a redesign of the square.

The east side of the square was a popular place for protests because of their proximity to the Parliament for a long time. Due to ongoing protests against the Iraq war, which were perceived by the government as increasingly disturbing, the Parliament in November 2004 approved a controversial restriction of the right to demonstrate. After 1 August 2005, it was illegal to demonstrate within about one kilometer without permission of the chairman of the Metropolitan Police. These regulations were lifted in September 2011, mainly after entry into force of a new Police Act.

Statuary

Around the square are ten statues of famous British and foreign statesmen. They are listed in the list below counter-clockwise, starting with the statue of Winston Churchill, which stands directly opposite the Parliament.