bar scale of 5/9 inch to 10 feet

labelled: Parliam^t Stairs, Cotton Garden, The River Thames, Princes / Cham^r, House of Lords, Painted Cham^r, Cotton House, House of Comm^s

Pen, pricked for transfer on laid paper with one fold mark (376 x 539)

William Kent (1685 - 1748)

IHS / I Villedary

Seemingly an intermediary design between the first of the 'Pantheon' designs (drawings [2-4]) and the more detailed designs for the Cottonian Library (drawings [6-9]), drawing [5] shows part of the east front of the new Parliament House including the ground-level room beneath the Cottonian Library. This space now has spiral staircases in the north-east and south-east corners in addition to the two spiral staircases to the west that are seen in previous plans.

Of greatest significance is the juxtaposition of the new design with the general site plan showing, for instance, the House of Lords, the Painted Chamber and the House of Commons. The north wall of the new Parliament House is aligned with the south wall of the House of Commons and has windows that are incongruous with the medieval building, so presumably it was intended to demolish the House of Commons as well as the historic buildings to the south. This drawing therefore establishes the precise location of the building in the 'Pantheon' design and proves that the adjoining building shown in drawings [3] and [4] is Westminster Hall.

Drawing

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

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