London | West

Updated: Oct 30

The world's largest container of UNESCO sites - Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church 426; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 1084

What and Why

London is one of the most visited cities on planet Earth and there are good reasons for it: River Thames, Big Ben, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, British Museum, Platform 9 3/4... The list is endless. There are also good reasons to avoid London: horrible traffic, unfriendly airport (In fact I stay away from Heathro w as much as possible), bad food, expensive city... The list goes on.

This blog is more to describe the two other UNESCO WHS on offer in London.

See

Palace of Westminster and Big Ben

Easily the icon of the United Kingdom (UK), the Palace of Westminster is the parliament of UK, and in a way Westminster has become synonymous to the politics of UK. The current palace is actually a replacement of the old palace, constructed as early as the 11th century CE which was partially destroyed by fire in mid-18th century CE. Renovation started almost immediately and the new palace was largely completed within a year for the new parliamentary session.

The Palace was strategically important during the Middle Ages, as it was located on the banks of the River Thames. The oldest existing part of the Palace dates from the reign of King William II (né William Normandy) and was originally designed as the monarch's residence.

The architecture style has been modified over and over throughout the millennium and the that stands in front of came from the 19th century CE renovation. The style is what is referred to as English Gothic, which is characterised by an emphasis on vertical lines. I have to confess it bears some similarities with the Budapest Parliament Building, which I shall blog later.

There is one small room in the abbey that deserves a bit of mention: the chapter house. When King Henry III (né Henry Plentagenet) was commissioning to build the abbey, he was at odds with the nobility and he raised tax to raise money for the church. The noblemen were upset and they gathered around the chapter house and negotiated with the king. This established the tradition of addressing solving civil problems by debates rather by royal decree or authority.

The palace has a number of tower, in particular Victoria Tower which is the tallest, and is located at the far south-west end of the palace. The palace is designed to be a library and document repository. The more famous Elizabeth Tower, in particular, often referred to by the name of its main bell, Big Ben, has become an iconic landmark of London and of the UK and is in everyone's camera who has come to London.

The name Elizabeth Tower only comes in 2012 CE to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II (née Elizabeth Windsor), previously it was called the Saint Stephen's Tower. The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin in a neo-Gothic style. Completed in 1859 CE, the clock is still known for its accuracy and reliability.

The name Big Ben actually refers to the biggest bell inside the belfry that is responsible for the main chime, which sounds an E-natural. The name comes apparently after Benjamin Hall, the civil engineer who oversaw the installation of the bell.

The bridge connecting the Westminster to the other bank is NOT the London Bridge, as most people would have thought. There are several 'London Bridges', some still there and some gone, and as per today, the official one is near Southwark. As depicted in the nursery rhyme London Bridge Is Falling Down, the bridges were beyond repair. Incredibly as it sounds, one of these old London Bridge was demolished and relocated all the way in Lake Havasu City in Arizona!

Westminster Abbey

The name of the entire palace actually comes from this tiny abbey. The word minster comes from the Latin word monasterium, which in the UK refers to a big church. Clearly the English word monastery refers to a slightly different meaning and hence this abbey means a church built in the west side of the city.

Westminster Abbey is formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a 'relatively small' Gothic abbey church just to the west of the Palace, as the Palace is really massive.

The abbey is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for British monarchs, and is also the burial site of more than 3,300 persons, usually of prominent British personalities like monarchs, prime ministers, Nobel laureate, actors, scientists, and military leaders.

It is claimed that the abbey was conceived when Aldrich, a young fisherman on the River Thames had a vision of Saint Peter (Aramaic: כֵּיפָא, Kepha) at the site. By the way, the name Thames comes from Middle English temese, which probably means dark, and can be compared to other cognates such as Russian темно (temno), Lithuanian tamsi, Sanskrit तमस् (tamas), all meaning darkness.

Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that claims to house the largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world. Started as a royal garden, Kew has become the authority in botany and authors the International Plant Names Index (IPNI) database, an authoritative source of information on botanical nomenclature and hence has an unmovable standing in botany. It has over 8.5 million preserved plant specimens since its establishment in 1759 CE, especially when the British Empire has extent in all parts of the world and hence they used this to populate the plant species in the park. One of the success stories is the production of quinine from the park to treat malaria at one point: it came from a plant specimen from South America.

The name Kew, recorded in 1327 CE as Cayho, is a combination of two words: the Old French kai (quay) and Old English hoh (spur of land).

The Palm House is the main landmark of the Park.

Treetop Walkway.

The Orangery was really meant for citrus fruit breeding. It is now a restaurant.

Princess of Wales Conservatory.

Kew Palace is the smallest of the British royal palaces.

The Herbarium is a huge repository of plant specimen, but probably only interests a botanist.

Eat and Drink

Fish and chips

If there is one staple food that can be identified as originally British, it has to be fish and chips, although the culinary preparation suggests it comes from Jewish immigrants. I do remember my first encounter of the dish is through Oliver Twist during my school days.

I had a traditional serving in a nearby eatery Kew Gardens Hotel. So so.

Getting There and Around

Both sites are easily accessible via the underground Westminster and Kew Gardens Station. The Kew Garden is huge, it does take an athletic body to complete it, especially during the summer days. The entrance fee to the Westminster Palace and Kew Gardens is both GBP £18. Spend at least three or four days in London.