School · Victoria · SW1P · Contributed by The Underground Map

FEBRUARY

18

2015

Westminster

Westminster - heart of government.

Westminster lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London. It has a large concentration of London's historic and prestigious landmarks and visitor attractions, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.

Historically part of the parish of St Margaret in the City and Liberty of Westminster and the county of Middlesex, the name Westminster was the ancient description for the area around Westminster Abbey – the West Minster, or monastery church, that gave the area its name – which has been the seat of the government of England (and later the British government) for almost a thousand years.

Westminster is the location of the Palace of Westminster, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which houses the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The area has been the seat of the government of England for almost a thousand years. Westminster is thus often used as a metonym for Parliament and the political community of the United Kingdom generally. The civil service is similarly referred to by the area it inhabits, Whitehall, and Westminster is consequently also used in reference to the Westminster System, the parliamentary model of democratic government that has evolved in the United Kingdom.

The term Westminster Village, sometimes used in the context of British politics, does not refer to a geographical area at all; employed especially in the phrase Westminster Village gossip, it denotes a supposedly close social circle of Members of Parliament, political journalists, so-called spin doctors and others connected to events in the Palace of Westminster.

The historic core of Westminster is the former Thorney Island on which Westminster Abbey was built. The Abbey became the traditional venue of the coronation of the kings and queens of England. The nearby Palace of Westminster came to be the principal royal residence after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and later housed the developing Parliament and law courts of England. It can be said that London thus has developed two distinct focal points: an economic one in the City of London; and a political and cultural one in Westminster, where the Royal Court had its home. This division is still very apparent today.

The monarchy later moved to the Palace of Whitehall a little towards the north-east. The law courts have since moved to the Royal Courts of Justice, close to the border of the City of London.

The Westminster area formed part of the City and Liberty of Westminster and the county of Middlesex. The ancient parish was St Margaret; after 1727 split into the parishes of St Margaret and St John. The area around Westminster Abbey formed the extra-parochial Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter surrounded by—but not part of—either parish. Until 1900 the local authority was the combined vestry of St Margaret and St John (also known as the Westminster District Board of Works from 1855 to 1887), which was based at Westminster City Hall on Caxton Street from 1883. The Liberty of Westminster, governed by the Westminster Court of Burgesses, also included St Martin in the Fields and several other parishes and places. Westminster had its own quarter sessions, but the Middlesex sessions also had jurisdiction. The area was transferred from Middlesex to the County of London in 1889 and the local government of Westminster was reformed in 1900 when the court of burgesses and parish vestries were abolished, to be replaced with a metropolitan borough council. The council was given city status, allowing it to be known as Westminster City Council.

The underground station was opened as Westminster Bridge on 24 December 1868 by the steam-operated Metropolitan District Railway (MDR) (now the District line) when the railway opened the first section of its line from South Kensington. It was originally the eastern terminus of the MDR and the station cutting ended at a concrete wall buffered by timber sleepers. The approach to the station from the west runs in cut and cover tunnel under the roadway of Broad Sanctuary and diagonally under Parliament Square. In Broad Sanctuary the tunnel is close to Westminster Abbey and St Margaret's church and care was required to avoid undermining their foundations when excavating in the poor ground found there.

The station was completely rebuilt to incorporate new deep-level platforms for the Jubilee line when it was extended to the London Docklands in the 1990s. During the works, the level of the sub-surface platforms was lowered to enable ground level access to Portcullis House. This was achieved in small increments carried out when the line was closed at night.

LOCATIONS ON THE UNDERGROUND MAP

Apollo Victoria Theatre:   The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a West End theatre, across from London Victoria Station.
Buckingham Palace:   Buckingham Palace is the official London residence and principal workplace of the British monarch.
Buckingham Palace Gardens:   
Government Equalities Office:   The Government Equalities Office (GEO) was part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) of HM Government. It was created in October 2007 when the Women and Equality Unit, based within the Department for Communities and Local Government was converted into an independent department.
Horse Hospital :   Built as stabling for cabby’s sick horses, The Horse Hospital is now a unique Grade II listed arts venue in Bloomsbury WC1
Little Ben:   Little Ben is a cast iron miniature clock tower, situated at the intersection of Vauxhall Bridge Road and Victoria Street, close to the approach to Victoria station.
London Lock Hospital:   The London Lock Hospital was the first venereal disease clinic.
Royal Mews:   The Royal Mews is a mews (i.e. combined stables, carriage house and in recent times also the garage) of the British Royal Family.
The 52 bus:   In modern times, the 52 bus route plies from Victoria station as far as Willesden Bus Garage.
Tothill Fields Bridewell:   Tothill Fields Bridewell (also known as Tothill Fields Prison and Westminster Bridewell) was a prison located in Westminster between 1618 and 1884.
Victoria:   The railways largely replaced the canals as a means of transport. Uniquely for a main line station, Victoria station was built on top of one.
Victoria Bus Station:   Victoria bus station is a bus station outside Victoria Station in Terminus Place.
Victoria Palace Theatre:   Victoria Palace Theatre stands opposite Victoria Station.
Westminster Cathedral:   The ’Metropolitan Cathedral of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ’ is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

NEARBY STREETS AND BUILDINGS ON THE UNDERGROUND MAP

Abbey Orchard Street, SW1P · Abingdon Street, SW1P · Allington Street, SW1E · Ambrosden Avenue, SW1P · Arneway Street, SW1P · Artillery Place, SW1P · Artillery Row, SW1P · Ashley Gardens, SW1P · Ashley Place, SW1P · Beeston Place, SW1W · Belgrave Road, SW1V · Birdcage Walk, SW1A · Birdcage Walk, SW1E · Bloomberg Street, SW1V · Bloomburg Street, SW1V · Bressenden Place, SW1E · Brewers Green, SW1H · Bridge Place, SW1V · Broadway, SW1H · Buckingham Gate, SW1E · Buckingham Mews, SW1E · Buckingham Palace Road, SW1V · Buckingham Place, SW1A · Buckingham Place, SW1E · Cardinal Walk, SW1E · Carey Place, SW1V · Carlisle Mansions, SW1P · Carlisle Place, SW1P · Castle Lane, SW1E · Catherine Place, SW1E · Caxton Street, SW1H · Chadwick Street, SW1P · Churton Place, SW1V · Churton Street, SW1V · Coburg Close, SW1P · Dacre Street, SW1H · Dean Bradley Street, SW1P · Dean Farrar Street, SW1H · Dells Mews, SW1V · Denbigh Mews, SW1V · Douglas Street, SW1P · East Concourse, SW1V · Eaton Lane, SW1W · Eaton Row, SW1W · Eccleston Bridge, SW1V · Eccleston Square Mews, SW1V · Eccleston Square, SW1V · Eland House · Elverton Street, SW1P · Emery Hill Street, SW1P · Evelyn Mansions, SW1P · Francis Street, SW1P · Gillingham Row, SW1V · Gillingham Street, SW1V · Gordon House, SW1P · Greencoat Place, SW1P · Greenwood, SE26 · Greycoat Gardens, SW1P · Greycoat Place, SW1P · Greycoat Street, SW1P · Grosvenor Gardens Mews East, SW1W · Grosvenor Gardens Mews North, SW1W · Grosvenor Gardens, SW1W · Grosvenor Place, SW1X · Guildhouse Street, SW1V · Hatherley Street, SW1P · Hide Place, SW1P · Hobart Place, SW1W · Howick Place, SW1E · Howick Place, SW1P · Hudsons Place, SW1V · Joseph Conrad House, SW1V · King’s Scholars’ Passage, SW1P · King’s Scholars’ Passage, SW1V · Kingsgate Parade, SW1E · Lambs Close, SW1W · Longmoore Street, SW1V · Lower Belgrave Street, SW1W · Lower Grosvenor Place, SW1W · Main Concourse, SW1V · Medway Street, SW1P · Monck Street, SW1P · Morpeth Mansions Morpeth Mansions, SW1P · Morpeth Mansions, SW1P · Morpeth Terrace, SW1P · Neat House Place, SW1V · Neathouse Place, SW1V · New Palace Yard, SW1A · Old Pye Street, SW1P · Palace Street, SW1 · Palace Street, SW1E · Palmer Street, SW1H · Petty France, SW1H · Portland House · Post Office Way, SW1P · Regency Place, SW1P · Rochester Row, SW1P · Rochester Street, SW1P · Roebuck House, SW1E · Rutherford Street, SW1P · Seaforth Place, SW1E · Spenser Street, SW1E · Spur Road, SE1 · St Anns Street, SW1P · St Matthew Street, SW1P · St. Ermin’s Hill, SW1H · St. Matthew Street, SW1P · Stag Place, SW1E · Stillington Street, SW1P · Strutton Ground, SW1P · Tachbrook Mews, SW1V · Terminus Place, SW1 · Terminus Place, SW1V · Terminus Place, SW1W · The Royal Mews, SW1E · The Royal Mews, SW1W · Thirleby Road, SW1P · Udall Street, SW1P · Upper Tachbrook Street, SW1V · Vandon Street, SW1H · Vauxhall Bridge Road, SW1P · Vauxhall Bridge Road, SW1V · Victoria Arcade, SW1E · Victoria Arcade, SW1V · Victoria Square, SW1W · Victoria Street, SW1E · Victoria Street, SW1H · Victoria Street, SW1W · Victoria Subway, SW1X · Victoria Walk, E3 · Vincent Square, SW1P · Walcott Street, SW1P · Warwick Place North, SW1V · Warwick Row, SW1E · Warwick Way, SW1V · Westminster Palace Gardens, SW1P · Wilcox Place, SW1E · Wilfred Street, SW1E · Willow Place, SW1P · Willow Place, SW1V · Wilton Road, SW1V ·