Westminster, Big Ben And The Houses Of Parliament - Thames Yacht Charters

The UK Parliament is one of the oldest representative assemblies in the world. The site of the Houses of Parliament is the Palace of Westminster, a royal palace and former residence of kings.

The layout of the Palace is intricate, with its existing buildings containing nearly 1,200 rooms, 100 staircases and well over 3 kilometers (2 miles) of passages. Among the original historic buildings is Westminster Hall, used nowadays for major public ceremonial events

During the Summer Recess the Palace of Westminster, home to the House of Lords and the House of Commons is open for a one hour guided tour, which includes both Chambers and other great State Rooms. The tour starts at Victoria Tower and ends in Historic Westminster Hall.

" Big Ben" does not refer to the whole clocktower, but to the huge thirteen ton bell that strikes the hour.
One theory has it that the bell was named after a popular heavyweight boxer Benjamin Caunt. However, the consensus today seems to be that it was named after Sir Benjamin Hall*, a (literally) weighty politician of the time who was the Parliamentary Commissioner of Works.

Also known as The Palace of Westminster, The Houses of Parliament incorporates The House of Commons (destroyed in WW2, rebuilt 1950), The House of Lords & Westminster Hall.