The Clock Tower is the famous tower of the Houses of Parliament and contains the bell Big Ben. The minute hands of the great clock are made of copper and the hour hands are made of gunmetal. The numerals are about half a metre high and there are 312 panes of glass in each of the four faces. The Clock Tower is 96.3 metres tall. Big Ben is the bell which weighs 13.8 tonnes. It was first rung in 1859.
British History Research Guide

Government Publications

Table of Contents

See also the section on Parliamentary publications

British official publications collaborative reader information service (BOPCRIS)
Search and browse information from British official publications from the period 1688-1995. You can also read abstracts, and view detailed consistent subject indexing, of key documents. You can then read the digitised full-text version of a limited number of these documents.
KnowUK. Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey.
This site provides access to government information ranging from The Municipal Yearbook to parliamentary debates (Hansard) back to 1996..
NUKOP online: New United Kingdom Official Publications online Updated weekly
This site for official UK publications is based on the Ford Collection at the University of Southampton and emphasises the "use of new technologies to make official publications more accessible to a wider audience." It lists official publications published since July 1995 by HMSO and various government departments and is keyword searchable.
Macmillan Cabinet Papers
Documents from the highest level of Government during the Macmillan Administration, 1957-1963.
Pemberton, John E. British official publications. 2nd ed. Oxford: Pergamon Press, [1973].
SML, Bibliography Z2009 P45 1973 (LC)
Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London, 1674-1834 (Universities of Hertfordshire and Sheffield)
A fully searchable online edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing accounts of over 100,000 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court..
Rodgers, Frank. Guide to British government publications. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1980.
SML, Bibliography Z2009 R62 (LC)
10 Downing Street
Covering both the ". . . home and office of the British Prime Minister", this site also includes links to biographies of the Prime Ministers beginning with Harold Macmillan, a list of current Cabinet officers, and links to other UK government agencies.
UK Official Publications on the Internet (The Stationery Office)
Provides an index to Stationery Office publications by date, title, and government department, as well as to official publications by category.
UKonline.gov.uk
The entry point for UK government information and services online.
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The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). At its head is the Sovereign; it is bicameral, including an Upper House, called the House of Lords, and a Lower House, called the House of Commons. The House of Lords includes two different types of members—the Lords Spiritual (the senior clergy of the Church of England) and the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage); it is a wholly unelected body. The House of Commons, on the other hand, is a democratically elected chamber. The House of Lords and the House of Commons meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster (commonly known as the THE CEREMONIAL PROCESSION AT THE NORMAN PORCH DURING THE STATE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT, LONDON Edward I in Parliament from the Wriothesley Manuscript. King Alexander of Scotland is seated on the left and Prince Llywelyn of Wales on the right. The manuscript dates from the 1520s and this illustration portrays a Tudor concept of a medieval Parliament The Central Lobby is situated in the middle of the Palace of Westminster and was planned as the focal point of the Palace by Charles Barry. It forms the crossroads of the building. Everything to the south of it is part of the House of Lords, and everything to the north is part of the House of Commons. When the Houses are sitting the Lobby is a hive of activity and members of the public can come here to request a meeting with their MP. The Central Lobby is octagonal and features mosaics of St. George, St. David, St. Andrew and St. Patrick. The statues around each of the archways were designed by Charles Barry using sculptors from the Thames Bank Workshop. Barry originally planned a higher ceiling for the lobby, but had to change his plans to accomodate the ventilation system. Oliver Cromwell played a part in trying to keep Parliament united when the Civil War ended with Parliament victorious. He also tried to smooth things between Parliament and the army in 1647 when the army mutinied and refused to disband. He played a prominent part in the second Civil War and was the prime mover behind the decision to execute the King in 1649 and the establishment of the Commonwealth. Charles I, the King in 1642, raised his standard at Nottingham in what is accepted by historians as a sign by the king that he intended to fight Parliament for power in England. His support came from the nobility, large landowners, the church and from people in the north and west of England. In October, a battle was fought at Edgehill but neither side won it and from a military point of view it was an indecisive battle.
 
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