Church · Knightsbridge · SW1X · Contributed by The Underground Map

FEBRUARY

7

2018

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

25 Park Lane:   25 Park Lane was the London residence of Sir Philip Sassoon.
Apsley House:   There is a rumour that the 1st Duke of Wellington insisted his post to his home, Apsley House, be addressed as Number One, London. It however was not due only to ego.
Halkin Hotel:   The Halkin (styled as The Halkin by COMO) is a 5-star hotel.
Harrods:   Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Knightsbridge.
Hill House International Junior School:   Other independent school which accepts students between the ages of 4 and 13. Admissions policy: Non-selective.
Hyde Park Corner:   At the other end of Park Lane from Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner has struck terror into many a learner driver.
Knightsbridge:   Knightsbridge was originally a small hamlet, between the villages of Chelsea (Chelsey), Kensington (Kensing town) and Charing. In the time of Edward I, the manor of Knightsbridge appertained to the abbey of Westminster. It was named after a crossing of the River Westbourne, which is now an underground river.
More House School:   Other independent school which accepts students between the ages of 11 and 18. Admissions policy: Selective (grammar).
Royal Artillery Memorial:   The Royal Artillery Memorial is a stone memorial at Hyde Park Corner, dedicated to the First World War casualties of the Royal Regiment of Artillery.
St Nicholas Preparatory School:   Other independent school which accepts students between the ages of 3 and 11. Admissions policy: Non-selective.

NEARBY STREETS AND BUILDINGS ON THE UNDERGROUND MAP

Albert Gate, SW1X · Ann’s Close, SW1X · Basil Mansions, SW3 · Basil Street, SW1X · Basil Street, SW3 · Beauchamp Mansions, SW3 · Beauchamp Place, SW3 · Beaufort Gardens, SW3 · Belgrave Mews North, SW1X · Belgrave Mews South, SW1X · Belgrave Mews West, SW1X · Belgrave Place, SW1X · Belgrave Square, SW1X · Bowater House West, SW1X · Bradbrook House, SW1X · Brompton Place, SW3 · Brompton Road, SW1X · Brompton Road, SW3 · Brompton Square, SW3 · Cadogan Lane, SW1X · Cadogan Place, SW1X · Carriage Drive, SE21 · Carriage Drive, SE22 · Chapel Street, SW1X · Chesham Close, SW1X · Chesham Mews, SW1X · Chesham Place, SW1X · Cheval Place, SW7 · Cottage Place, SW3 · Cottage Place, SW7 · Culross Street, W1K · Curzon Square, W1K · Dunraven Street, W1K · Duplex Ride, SW1X · Eaton Place, SW1X · Egerton Gardens Mews, SW3 · Egerton Gardens, SW3 · Ennismore Mews, SW7 · Ennismore Street, SW7 · Fairholt Street, SW7 · Frederic Mews, SW1X · Groom Place, SW1X · Grosvenor Crescent Mews, SW1X · Grosvenor Crescent, SW1X · Grosvenor Cresent, SW1X · Halkin Arcade, SW1X · Halkin Street, SW1X · Hans Crescent, SW1X · Hans Crescent, SW3 · Hans Cresent, SW1X · Hans Place, SW1X · Hans Road, SW1X · Hans Road, SW3 · Hans Street, SW1X · Harriet Street, SW1X · Harriet Walk, SW1X · Harrods Green, HA8 · Headfort Place, SW1X · Herbert Crescent, SW1X · Hyde Park Corner, W1J · Jones Street, W1K · Kingston House North, SW7 · Kinnerton Place South, SW1X · Kinnerton Street, SW1X · Kinnerton Yard, SW1X · Knight’s Bridge, E20 · Knightsbridge Barracks, SW7 · Knightsbridge Court, SW1X · Knightsbridge Green, SW1X · Knightsbridge, SW1X · Knightsbridge, SW3 · Lancelot Place, SW7 · Lanesborough Place, SW1X · Little Chester Street, SW1X · Lovers’ Walk, W1K · Lowndes Square, SW1X · Lowndes Street, SW1X · Lyall Mews, SW1X · Montpelier Mews, SW7 · Montpelier Square, SW7 · Montpelier Street, SW7 · Montpelier Walk, SW7 · Montrose Court, SW7 · Montrose Place, SW1X · Motcomb Street, SW1X · New Ride, SW1X · New Ride, SW7 · North Terrace, SW3 · North Terrace, SW7 · Old Barrack Yard, SW1X · Ovington Gardens, SW3 · Park Close, SW1X · Park Lane, W1J · Park Lane, W1K · Park Mansions, SW1X · Park Street, W1K · Park Towers Hotel, SW1X · Parkside, SW1X · Pavilion Road, SW1X · Pembroke Close, SW1X · Peninsular Tower, SW7 · Pont Street, SW1X · Princes Gate, SW7 · Raphael Street, SW1X · Raphael Street, SW7 · Relton Mews, SW7 · Roberts Mews, SW1X · Rotten Row, SW1X · Rotten Row, SW7 · Rutland Gardens, SW7 · Rutland Gate Mews, SW7 · Rutland Gate, SW7 · Rutland Street, SW7 · Sloane Street, SW1X · South Carriage Drive, SW1X · South Carriage Drive, SW7 · Stackhouse Street, SW1X · Studio Place, SW1X · Trevor Place, SW7 · Trevor Square, SW3 · Trevor Square, SW7 · Trevor Street, SW7 · Upper Belgrave Street, SW1X · Upper Brook Street, W1K · Upper Grosvenor Street, W1K · Walkway, SW7 · West Halkin Street, SW1X · William Mews, SW1X · William Street, SW1X · Wilton Crescent, SW1X · Wilton Cresent, SW1X · Wilton Mews, SW1X · Wilton Place, SW1X · Wilton Row, SW1X · Wilton Terrace, SW1X · Woods Mews, W1K ·