From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
Parliament Square
Square in London, England
.jpg)
Square in London, England
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| short_title | Parliament Square (Improvements) Act 1949 |
| type | Act |
| parliament | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| long_title | An Act to authorise certain improvements in and around Parliament Square, and for purposes connected therewith. |
| year | 1949 |
| citation | 12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6. c. lvi |
| royal_assent | 16 December 1949 |
| original_text | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo6/12-13-14/56/pdfs/ukla_19490056_en.pdf |
| collapsed | yes |
Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contains twelve statues of statesmen and other notable individuals.
As well as being one of London's tourist attractions, it is also the place where many demonstrations and protests have been held. The square is overlooked by various official buildings: legislature to the east (in the Houses of Parliament), governmental executive offices to the north (on Whitehall), the judiciary to the west (the Supreme Court), and the church to the south (with Westminster Abbey).
Parliament Square features all of the British flags, the flags of the United Kingdom, its four countries, the county flags and the three flags of the Crown Dependencies and the sixteen heraldic shields of the British Overseas Territories. Alongside all of the British flags, Parliament Square also has all of the 56 flags of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Location
Buildings looking upon the square include the churches Westminster Abbey and St Margaret's, Westminster, the Middlesex Guildhall which is the seat of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Government Offices Great George Street serving HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs, and Portcullis House.
Roads that branch off the Parliament Square are St Margaret Street (towards Millbank), Broad Sanctuary (towards Victoria Street), Great George Street (towards Birdcage Walk), Parliament Street (leading into Whitehall) and Bridge Street (leading onto Westminster Bridge).
History
_p118_-_Westminster_(map).jpg)
Original layout
Parliament Square was laid out in 1868 in order to open up the space around the Palace of Westminster and improve traffic flow, and featured London's first traffic signals. A substantial amount of property had to be cleared from the site. The architect responsible was Sir Charles Barry. Its original features included the Buxton Memorial Fountain, which was removed in 1949 and placed in its present position in nearby Victoria Tower Gardens in 1957.
In 1949, the design for the replanning of the Parliament Square area, Westminster, London was carried out by the architect, George Grey Wornum (1888–1957).
Post Second World War changes
The plans to redesign the Square predated the Second World War as the Ministry of Transport suggested:
that a larger central island was necessary to allow traffic more room in Great George Street. If the northern side of the central island were lengthened it was expected that the frequent traffic blocks at the junction of Parliament Street and Bridge Street with Parliament Square would be greatly reduced.
Parliament Square (Improvements) Act 1949 | use_new_UK-LEG = | UK-LEG_title = Following the war, London County Council submitted a revised plan that was agreed by the Ministry of Transport and legislated for by Parliament with the Parliament Square (Improvements) Act 1949.The Act was required due to the mixed ownership of the land. The redesign included putting new roads, pavement and gardens in the area.
As St George Street was widened and an existing road was moved, the Buxton Memorial Fountain had to be removed. Because Victorian style architecture was unpopular at the time, some in Parliament argued it should never be re-erected: at least one parliamentarian said it had "no artistic merit whatever" The Act provided that the fountain could be removed, but required its re-erection.
The central garden of the square was transferred from the Parliamentary Estate to the control of the Greater London Authority by the Greater London Authority Act 1999. It has responsibility to light, cleanse, water, pave, and repair the garden, and has powers to make bylaws for the garden.
Public demonstrations
The east side of the square, lying opposite one of the main entrances to the Palace of Westminster, has historically been a common site of protest against government action or inaction. On May Day 2000 the square was transformed into a giant allotment by a Reclaim the Streets guerrilla gardening action. Most recently, Brian Haw staged a continual protest there for several years, campaigning against British and American action in Iraq. Starting on 2 June 2001, Haw left his post only once, on 10 May 2004 – and then because he had been arrested on the charge of failing to leave the area during a security alert – and returned the following day when he was released. The alleged disruption caused by Haw's protest led Parliament to insert a clause into the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 making it illegal to protest in Parliament Square (or, indeed, in a large area reaching roughly half a mile in all directions) without first seeking the permission of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
The provisions of that Act relating to Parliament Square were repealed by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, which provides for a different regime of "prohibited activities".
As well as sparking a great deal of protest from various groups on the grounds of infringement of civil liberties including the European Convention on Human Rights, the Act was initially unsuccessful in accomplishing its goals: Brian Haw was held to be exempt from needing authorisation in a High Court ruling, as his protest had started before the Act came into effect (though any new protests would be covered); Haw remained in Parliament Square. Later, the Court of Appeal overturned this ruling, forcing Haw to apply for police authorisation to continue his protest.
Statues
The Parliament Square is home to twelve statues of British, Commonwealth, and Anglosphere political figures. They are listed here in anti-clockwise order, beginning with Winston Churchill's statue, which faces Parliament.
| Image | Subject | Location | Sculptor | Date of unveiling | Notes | Listing | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaigner for women's suffrage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Winston Churchill, Parliament Square, London (cropped).jpg | 100px]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:LloydGeorgeStatueParliamentSq.JPG | 100px]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Jan Christian Smuts statue Parliament Square.jpg | 100px]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Palmerston statue Parliament Square.jpg | 100px]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Earl of Derby (16543860247).jpg | 100px]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Benjamin Disraeli monument.JPG | 100px]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Peel statue Parliament Square.jpg | 100px]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Statue of George Canning, Parliament Square, London.jpg | 100px]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Abraham lincoln memorial london 20050523.jpg | 100px]]Lincoln | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Nelson Mandela statue Parliament Square.jpg | 100px]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Gandhi statue 2.jpg | 100px]] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [[File:Millicent Fawcett Statue 02 - Courage Calls (27810755638) (cropped).jpg | 100px]] |
Demonstrations
The Parliament Square Peace Campaign was a peace campaign started by Brian Haw in 2001 and carried on by Barbara Tucker until 2013.
In May 2010, a peace camp known as Democracy Village was set up on the square to protest (initially) against the British government's involvement in invasions in the Middle East, which became an eclectic movement encompassing left-wing causes and anti-globalisation protests.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson appealed to the courts to have them removed and, after demonstrators lost an appeal in July 2010, Lord Neuberger ruled that the protesters camping on the square should be evicted. The final tents were removed in January 2012.
On 9 August 2025, a large demonstration in support of Palestine Action was held at Parliament Square. When Big Ben chimed 1 p.m. during the protest, large numbers of demonstrators revealed signs which read "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action", leading to the arrest of 532 people—the largest made by the Metropolitan Police on a single day in the previous 10 years.
Panorama
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
- {{cite book
References
- (23 July 2021). "Historic county flags raised in day of national celebration". Gov.uk.
- (31 October 2012). "Overseas Territories flags flown for the first time in Parliament Square". Gov UK.
- "Design for the replanning of the Parliament Square area, Westminster, London".
- (23 November 1949). "Parliament Square (Improvements) Bill Debate".
- (23 November 1949). "Parliament Square (Improvements) Bill".
- The law and history on protest around Parliament, including the ban that was enforced under SOCPA and the narrower restrictions under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 are analysed in an article on protest in Parliament Square. Kiron Reid 'Letting Down the Drawbridge: Restoration of the Right to Protest at Parliament'. (2013) 1 Law Crime and History 16 (pp. 16–51) (Internet (free access)). {{ISSN. 2045-9238. [https://archive.today/20130620022023/http://www.pbs.plymouth.ac.uk/solon/hjournal2013Vol3.html] The file is a pdf.
- Howard, Philip. (2 November 1973). "Resolute and defiant as ever, Churchill's statue is revealed". The Times.
- (1 January 2004). "Winston Churchill's statue 'had a look of Mussolini'". The Daily Telegraph.
- (26 October 2007). "Lloyd George statue 'is a disgrace'". The Independent.
- {{Harvnb. Ward-Jackson. 2011
- {{Harvnb. Ward-Jackson. 2011
- {{Harvnb. Ward-Jackson. 2011
- {{Harvnb. Ward-Jackson. 2011
- "Noble, Matthew (bap. 1817, d. 1876), sculptor". The National Archives.
- {{Harvnb. Ward-Jackson. 2011
- "The statue of Abraham Lincoln in Parliament Square". The National Archives.
- (29 August 2007). "London Mandela statue for Parliament Sq". BBC News.
- James Dunn. (14 March 2015). "Gandhi statue unveiled in Parliament Square – next to his old enemy Churchill". The Independent.
- (24 April 2018). "Millicent Fawcett: Statue of suffragist unveiled". [[BBC News]].
- (19 June 2011). "Parliament Square peace campaigner Brian Haw dies". BBC.
- [https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/peace-at-last-final-anti-war-protesters-leave-parliament-square-after-12-years-8608893.html Peace at last! Final anti-war protesters leave Parliament Square after 12 years] 9 May 2013 standard.co.uk
- (16 July 2010). "Parliament Square protesters lose eviction appeal – BBC News". BBC.
- (17 January 2012). "Parliament protest camp removed". BBC News.
- (9 August 2025). "Police arrest 474 at Palestine Action ban protest". [[BBC News]].
- (10 August 2025). "Palestine Action protest arrests rise to more than 500".
- (9 August 2025). "Palestine Action: Hundreds arrested at march protesting group ban in London". www.telegraph.co.uk.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about Parliament Square — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report