Rather interesting Westminster facts
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Did you know that the clock on the Big Ben Tower slowed down by 5 minutes in 1949 when a flock of starlings landed on the minute hand? At 14 feet long there is plenty of room for them
Did you know that there are over two miles of passages in the Houses of Parliament ? These include a royal route from a porte cochere beneath the Victoria Tower all the way to the Lords.
Did you know that the first person buried at Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey was Geoffrey Chaucer ? Though his place in the Abbey came courtesy of his role as Clerk of Works, not for his writing.
Did you know that Westminster Bridge is painted green to be in harmony with the seat colour of the House of Commons?
Did you know that Parliament Square was made into Britain’s first roundabout in 1926? By then it had already existed for about 80 years.
Did you know that Westminster Abbey is Britain’s largest church? Begun by Edward the Confessor , it was added to and altered hugely by Henry III . Henry IV actually died in the Abbey.
Did you knowthat College Garden in Westminster was laid out in the 10th Century and is Britain’s oldest Garden? Part of it was originally for growing medicinal herbs
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Famous Westminster people:
Anthony Powell
Ben Bradshaw
Ben Jonson
Carey Mulligan
Charles Barry
Edmund Spenser
Edward I
Edward V
George V
Henry Palmerston
Henry Purcell
Jack Whitehall
Jemima Khan
John Tooke
Jonathon Porritt
Kelly Osbourne
Noel Fielding
Sir William Sidney Smith
Stephen Poliakoff
William Pitt (The Elder)
William Smith
More famous Britons here
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