Westminster: scene of next phase in state mourning

On Friday the Palace of Westminster will become the focus of the nation's attention when the body of the Queen Mother is taken to Westminster Hall where she will lie in state over the weekend.

Just as they did for her late husband, thousands of people are expected to line the streets to pass through the hall to pay a final tribute to the former monarch.

The immense hall, tucked to the left through Saint Stephen's entrance, normally plays host to tour groups and Westminster staff who use it as a "corridor" in and out of the Palace of Westminster.

But the hall's day to day use masks its importance, not just to politics, but to the nation's history as a whole.

Westminster Hall is the oldest surviving building of the ancient Palace of Westminster which, from the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042-66) to the early years of Henry VIII (1509-47), was the principal residence of the Kings of England.

The hall is of immense proportions - spanning 240 feet by 69 feet.

Built by William Rufus in 1097-99 it was at first an aisled building, with two rows of columns supporting a lower, lighter and simpler roof, an arrangement which continued for 300 years.

Between 1394 and 1399, in the reign of Richard II, the Hall was transformed, its Norman walls were heightened and buttressed to enable them to carry the weight of a great new roof of English oak, designed to cover the building in a single span, without the need for supporting columns.

This roof, still seen today, is widely commended as the greatest surviving achievement of medieval English timberwork.

It was the creation of Hugh Herland, the King's master carpenter. It is constructed on the cantilever or "hammerbeam" principle, and is the earliest - as well as the most extensive - roof of this type in existence.

The roof lantern, which is now glazed, was the large opening through which the smoke from the medieval fires was expelled.

The windows and the new stonework were by Henry Yevele, the master mason. Since the roof was completed in 1399, it has been repaired in 1819, in 1913 and again in 1945, after it was damaged by incendiary bombs during the war.

By the 14th century the north-west, south-east and south-west corners had become established meeting places of Courts of Common Pleas, King's Bench and Chancery respectively. The remaining space within the Hall along the walls was occupied by shops and stalls.

This arrangement was, however, interrupted for great public and parliamentary occasions.

Coronation banquets took place in the Hall from at least 1170, the last being that of King George IV in 1821. In this century luncheons have also been held here for representatives of Commonwealth Parliaments on the occasion of the Coronation of the Sovereign.

The hall has also witnessed state trials and impeachments, such as those of Sir Thomas More in 1535, of Guy Fawkes in 1606, and of Charles I in 1649.

The Hall has continued to be used for solemn ceremonial occasions - such as the lying in state of members of the Royal family, including King George VI who lay in state for three days and four nights in 1952.

Two great commoners, William Gladstone and Winston Churchill, have also laid in the hall.

It has also been the setting for a number of parliamentary occasions, notably the presentation of Addresses by both Houses of Parliament to the Sovereign.

Addresses were presented in 1965 to mark the seventh centenary of the summoning, to the Hall, of the Parliament of Simon de Montfort, and in 1977 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession to the Throne of Her Majesty The Queen.

The London conferences of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Inter-Parliamentary Union have been opened in the hall by the Queen.

It was also used to deliver a joint-address to both Houses of Parliament by the former South African President, Nelson Mandela.

On Friday it will be used as a great chamber in which the nation can come to pay tribute to its favourite grandmother.