I. HISTORY OF THE GROWTH OF THE DESIGN.--Influence of external circumstances on the design--Lowness and irregularity of site--Limitation of choice to Elizabethan and Gothic styles--Choice of Perpendicular style--Original conception of the plan--Question of restoration of St. Stephen’s Chapel--Use of Westminster Hall as the grand entrance to the building--Simplicity of plan--Principle of symmetry and regularity dominant--Enlargement of plan after its adoption--Conception of St. Stephen’s porch--The Central Hall--The Royal Entrance and Royal Gallery--The House of Lords, its construction and decoration--The House of Commons, and its alteration--Great difficulty of the acoustic problem--Enlargement of public requirements--Alterations of design in the River Front--The Land Fronts--The Victoria Tower--The Clock Tower--General inclination to increase the upward tendency of the design, and the amount of decoration. II. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTUAL BUILDING.--Its dimensions--Its main lines of approach; the public approach--The royal approach--The private approaches of Peers and Commons--General character of the plan--The external fronts--The towers--Criticisms on the building by independent authorities. I. In considering the growth of the design of the New Palace at Westminster, it is necessary to remember, that it was not left entirely free, to be determined by the taste of the architect or the requirements of the building, but was influenced by the site, by the existence of Westminster Hall, of the Courts of Law, and of a portion of the old St. Stephen’s Chapel, and by the limitation to either the Elizabethan or Gothic style dictated by the judges. The disadvantages of the site were so obvious--so obvious, that proposals were made to rebuild the Palace on other sites, among which may be noticed the high ground in the Green Park and Trafalgar Square. But in the end the feeling for the old site prevailed, and architectural effect was not unnaturally sacrificed to historical associations.