title: Sulfuric acid

text: Sulfuric acid created by John Roebuck's process approached a 65% concentration. Later refinements to the lead chamber process by French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and British chemist John Glover improved concentration to 78%. However, the manufacture of some dyes and other chemical processes require a more concentrated product. Throughout the 18th century, this could only be made by dry distilling minerals in a technique similar to the original alchemical processes. Pyrite (iron disulfide, ) was heated in air to yield iron(II) sulfate, , which was oxidized by further heating in air to form iron(III) sulfate, , which, when heated to 480 °C, decomposed to iron(III) oxide and sulfur trioxide, which could be passed through water to yield sulfuric acid in any concentration. However, the expense of this process prevented the large-scale use of concentrated sulfuric acid.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: In 1831, British vinegar merchant Peregrine Phillips patented the contact process, which was a far more economical process for producing sulfur trioxide and concentrated sulfuric acid. Today, nearly all of the world's sulfuric acid is produced using this method.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: Sulfuric acid is capable of causing very severe burns, especially when it is at high concentrations. In common with other corrosive acids and alkali, it readily decomposes proteins and lipids through amide and ester hydrolysis upon contact with living tissues, such as skin and flesh. In addition, it exhibits a strong dehydrating property on carbohydrates, liberating extra heat and causing secondary thermal burns. Accordingly, it rapidly attacks the cornea and can induce permanent blindness if splashed onto eyes. If ingested, it damages internal organs irreversibly and may even be fatal. Protective equipment should hence always be used when handling it. Moreover, its strong oxidizing property makes it highly corrosive to many metals and may extend its destruction on other materials. Because of such reasons, damage posed by sulfuric acid is potentially more severe than that by other comparable strong acids, such as hydrochloric acid and nitric acid.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: Sulfuric acid must be stored carefully in containers made of nonreactive material (such as glass). Solutions equal to or stronger than 1.5 M are labeled "CORROSIVE", while solutions greater than 0.5 M but less than 1.5 M are labeled "IRRITANT". However, even the normal laboratory "dilute" grade (approximately 1 M, 10%) will char paper if left in contact for a sufficient time.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: The standard first aid treatment for acid spills on the skin is, as for other corrosive agents, irrigation with large quantities of water. Washing is continued for at least ten to fifteen minutes to cool the tissue surrounding the acid burn and to prevent secondary damage. Contaminated clothing is removed immediately and the underlying skin washed thoroughly.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: Preparation of the diluted acid can be dangerous due to the heat released in the dilution process. To avoid splattering, the concentrated acid is usually added to water and not the other way around. A saying used to remember this is "Do like you oughta, add the acid to the water". Water has a higher heat capacity than the acid, and so a vessel of cold water will absorb heat as acid is added.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: Also, because the acid is denser than water, it sinks to the bottom. Heat is generated at the interface between acid and water, which is at the bottom of the vessel. Acid will not boil, because of its higher boiling point. Warm water near the interface rises due to convection, which cools the interface, and prevents boiling of either acid or water.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: In contrast, addition of water to concentrated sulfuric acid results in a thin layer of water on top of the acid. Heat generated in this thin layer of water can boil, leading to the dispersal of a sulfuric acid aerosol or worse, an explosion.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: Preparation of solutions greater than 6 M (35%) in concentration is most dangerous, because the heat produced may be sufficient to boil the diluted acid: efficient mechanical stirring and external cooling (such as an ice bath) are essential.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: Reaction rates double for about every 10-degree Celsius increase in temperature. Therefore, the reaction will become more violent as dilution proceeds, unless the mixture is given time to cool. Adding acid to warm water will cause a violent reaction.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: On a laboratory scale, sulfuric acid can be diluted by pouring concentrated acid onto crushed ice made from de-ionized water. The ice melts in an endothermic process while dissolving the acid. The amount of heat needed to melt the ice in this process is greater than the amount of heat evolved by dissolving the acid so the solution remains cold. After all the ice has melted, further dilution can take place using water.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: The main occupational risks posed by this acid are skin contact leading to burns (see above) and the inhalation of aerosols. Exposure to aerosols at high concentrations leads to immediate and severe irritation of the eyes, respiratory tract and mucous membranes: this ceases rapidly after exposure, although there is a risk of subsequent pulmonary edema if tissue damage has been more severe. At lower concentrations, the most commonly reported symptom of chronic exposure to sulfuric acid aerosols is erosion of the teeth, found in virtually all studies: indications of possible chronic damage to the respiratory tract are inconclusive as of 1997. Repeated occupational exposure to sulfuric acid mists may increase the chance of lung cancer by up to 64 percent. In the United States, the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for sulfuric acid is fixed at 1 mg/m: limits in other countries are similar. There have been reports of sulfuric acid ingestion leading to vitamin B12 deficiency with subacute combined degeneration. The spinal cord is most often affected in such cases, but the optic nerves may show demyelination, loss of axons and gliosis.


title: Sulfuric acid

text: International commerce of sulfuric acid is controlled under the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988, which lists sulfuric acid under Table II of the convention as a chemical frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300 (NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble) is a series of long range surface-to-air missile systems developed and operated by the former Soviet Union, now fielded by the militaries of Russia and Ukraine as well as several other former Eastern Bloc countries. It was produced by NPO Almaz, based on the initial S-300P version. The S-300 system was developed to defend against air raids and cruise missiles for the Soviet Air Defence Forces. Subsequent variations were also developed to be able to intercept ballistic missiles. The S-300 system was first deployed by the Soviet Union in 1979, designed for the air defence of large industrial and administrative facilities, military bases and control of airspace against enemy strike aircraft. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, military analysts have stated that Russia has modified a number of systems to perform surface-to-surface strikes.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The system is fully automated, though manual observation and operation are also possible. Components may be near the central command post, or as distant as 40 km. Each radar provides target designation for the central command post. The command post compares the data received from the targeting radars up to 80 km apart, filtering false targets. The central command post features both active and passive target detection modes.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The project-managing developer of the S-300 is Almaz-Antey. S-300 uses missiles developed by both MKB "Fakel" and NPO Novator design bureaus (separate government corporations, previously named "OKB-2" and "OKB-8").


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300 was still in 2006 regarded as one of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems currently fielded. It is mainly used in Asia and Eastern Europe, including NATO member countries Bulgaria and Greece. An evolved version of the S-300 system is the S-400 (NATO reporting name SA-21 Growler), which entered service on 28 April 2007.


title: S-300 missile system

text: Serial production started in 1975. The tests were completed in 1978 (for the S-300P variant), 1983 (for the S-300V), and 1987 (for the S-300V's anti-ballistic capabilities). Numerous versions have since emerged with different missiles, improved radars, better resistance to countermeasures, longer range, and better capability against short-range ballistic missiles or targets flying at very low altitude. There are currently three main variations.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300PT (transliterated from Russian "С-300П", NATO reporting name "SA-10A Grumble") is the original version of the S-300 system which became operational in 1978. In 1987, over 80 of these sites were active, mainly in the area around Moscow. The "P" suffix stands for "PVO-Strany" (country air defence system). An S-300PT unit consists of a (NATO reporting name "TIN SHIELD") surveillance radar, a 30N6 ("FLAP LID") fire control system and 5P85-1 launch vehicles. The 5P85-1 vehicle is a semi-trailer truck. Usually a 76N6 ("CLAM SHELL") low altitude detection radar is also a part of the unit.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300PT included the use of a passive electronically scanned array radar and had the ability to engage multiple targets on a single fire-control system. Since the original system was semi-mobile, it took over one hour to set it up for firing and the missile hot launch system could scorch the TEL.


title: S-300 missile system

text: It was originally intended to use the Track Via Missile (TVM) guidance system. However, the TVM system had problems tracking targets below 500 m. To improve tracking of low altitude targets, a command-guidance system was added to guide the missile for the initial part of the flight. This allowed the minimum engagement altitude to be set at 25 m.


title: S-300 missile system

text: Improvements to the S-300P resulted in several sub-versions for both domestic and export markets. The S-300PT-1 (SA-10B) and S-300PT-1A (SA-10C) are incremental upgrades of the original S-300PT system using a new 5V55KD missile and the cold launch method thereafter employed. The time to readiness was reduced to 30 minutes and trajectory optimizations allowed the 5V55KD to reach a range of 75 km.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300PS/S-300PM (Russian "С-300ПC"/"С-300ПМ", NATO reporting name "SA-10D/E Grumble") was introduced in 1985 and is the only version thought to have been fitted with a nuclear warhead. This model saw the introduction of the modern TEL and mobile radar and command-post vehicles that were all based on the MAZ-7910 8 × 8 truck. This model also featured the new 5V55R missiles which increased the maximum engagement range to and introduced a terminal semi-active radar homing (SARH) guidance mode. The surveillance radar of these systems was designated 30N6. Also introduced with this version was the distinction between self-propelled and towed TELs. The towed TEL is designated 5P85T. Mobile TELs were the 5P85S and 5P85D. The 5P85D was a "slave" TEL, being controlled by a 5P85S "master" TEL. The "master" TEL is identifiable thanks to the large equipment container behind the cabin; in the "slave" TEL this area is not enclosed and is used for cable or spare tyre storage.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The next modernization, called the S-300PMU, (Russian "С-300ПМУ", US DoD designation "SA-10F Grumble") was introduced in 1992 for the export market and featured the upgraded 5V55U missile which still utilized the intermediate SARH terminal guidance method and smaller warhead of the 5V55R but increased the engagement envelope to give this missile roughly the same range and altitude capabilities as the newer 48N6 missile (max. range 150 km/93 mi). The radars were also upgraded, with the surveillance radar for the S-300PMU being designated 64N6 (BIG BIRD) and the illumination and guidance radar being designated 30N6-1 in the GRAU index.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300PMU-1 (, US DoD designation "SA-20A", NATO reporting name "SA-20 Gargoyle") was also introduced in 1993 with the new and larger 48N6 missiles for the first time in a land-based system and introduced all the same performance improvements from the S300PM version including the increased speed, range, TVM guidance and ABM capability. The warhead is slightly smaller than the naval version at . This version also saw the introduction of the new and more capable 30N6E TOMB STONE radar.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300PMU-1 was introduced in 1993 using different missile types in a single system for the first time. In addition to the 5V55R and 48N6E missiles, the S-300PMU-1 can utilise two new missiles, the 9M96E1 and 9M96E2. Both are significantly smaller than the previous missiles at respectively, and carry a smaller warhead. The 9M96E1 has an engagement range of and the 9M96E2 of . They are still carried 4 per TEL. Rather than just relying on aerodynamic fins for manoeuvring, they use a gas-dynamic system which allows them to have an excellent probability of kill (P) despite the much smaller warhead. The P is estimated at 0.7 against a tactical ballistic missile for either missile. The S-300PMU-1 typically uses the 83M6E command and control system, although it is also compatible with the older Baikal-1E and Senezh-M1E CCS command and control systems. The 83M6E system incorporates the 64N6E ("BIG BIRD") surveillance/detection radar. The fire control/illumination and guidance radar used is the 30N6E(1), optionally matched with a 76N6 low altitude detection radar and a 96L6E all altitude detection radar. The 83M6E command and control system can control up to 12 TELs, both the self-propelled 5P85SE vehicle and the 5P85TE towed launchers. Generally support vehicles are also included, such as the 40V6M tow vehicle, intended for lifting of the antenna post.


title: S-300 missile system

text: China developed its own version of the S-300PMU-1, called HQ-15. Previously, the missile was referred to in the Western think tank as the HQ-10, causing confusion with the unrelated HQ-10 short-range point defense missile system.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300PMU-2 "Favourite" ( – "Favourite", DoD designation "SA-20B"), introduced in 1997 (presented ready 1996), is an upgrade to the S-300PMU-1 with a range of with the introduction of the 48N6E2 missile. This system is apparently capable against not just short range ballistic missiles, but also medium range ballistic missiles. It uses the 83M6E2 command and control system, consisting of the 54K6E2 command post vehicle and the 64N6E2 surveillance/detection radar. It employs the 30N6E2 fire control/illumination and guidance radar. Like the S-300PMU-1, 12 TELs can be controlled, with any mix of 5P85SE2 self-propelled and 5P85TE2 trailer launchers. Optionally it can make use of the 96L6E all altitude detection radar and 76N6 low altitude detection radar.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300F "Fort" (Russian "С-300Ф Форт", DoD designation "SA-N-6", "F" suffix for "Flot", Russian for "fleet") was introduced in 1984 as the original ship-based (naval) version of the S-300P system developed by "Altair" with the new 5V55RM missile with range extended to and maximum target speed up to Mach 4 while engagement altitude was reduced to . The naval version utilises the TOP SAIL or TOP STEER, TOP PAIR and 3R41 Volna (TOP DOME) radar and utilises command guidance with a terminal SARH mode. Its first installation and sea trials were on a and it is also installed on s and s. It is stored in eight (Slava) or twelve (Kirov) 8-missile rotary launchers below decks. The export version of this system is known as "Rif" (Russian "Риф" – "reef"). The NATO name, found also in colloquial use, is ""Grumble"".


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300FM "Fort-M" (Russian "С-300ФМ", DoD designation "SA-N-20") is another naval version of the system, installed only on the "Kirov"-class cruiser , and introduced the new 48N6 missile. It was introduced in 1990 and has a missile speed of approximately Mach 6 for a maximum target engagement speed of up to Mach 8.5, a warhead size of , an engagement range of , and an altitude envelope of . The new missiles also introduced a track-via-missile guidance method and brought with it the ability to intercept short-range ballistic missiles. This system makes use of the TOMB STONE MOD rather than TOP DOME radar. The export version is called the "Rif-M". Two Rif-M systems were purchased by China in 2002 and installed on the Type 051C air-defence guided missile destroyers.


title: S-300 missile system

text: Both naval versions are believed to include a secondary infrared terminal seeker, similar to the newer US Standard missile system, probably to reduce the system's vulnerability to saturation. This also allows the missile to engage contacts over the radar horizon, such as warships or sea-skimming anti-ship missiles.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300V, starting with the 9M83 missile, entered service in 1983, while it was fully integrated in 1988.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The 9K81 S-300V "Antey-300" (Russian "9К81 С-300В Антей-300" – named after "Antaeus", NATO reporting name "SA-12 Gladiator/Giant") varies from the other designs in the series. It was built by Antey rather than Almaz, and its 9M82 and 9M83 missiles were designed by NPO Novator. The "V" suffix stands for "Voyska" (ground forces). It was designed to form the top tier army air defence system, providing a defence against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and aircraft, replacing the 2K11 Krug. The 9M83 (SA-12A Gladiator) missiles have a maximum engagement range of around , while the 9M82 (SA-12B Giant) missiles can engage targets out to and up to altitudes of around . In both cases the warhead is around .


title: S-300 missile system

text: While it was created from the same project, hence sharing the common S-300 designation with the S-300P air defense family, the S-300V focused on different priorities resulting in a different design. The S-300V system is carried on tracked MT-T transporters, which gives it better cross-country mobility than the S-300Ps moving on 8 × 8 wheeled transporters. Its search, tracking, and command systems are more distributed than the S-300P's. For example, while both have mechanically scanning radar for target acquisition (9S15 "BILL BOARD A"), the battery level 9S32 "GRILL PAN" has an autonomous search ability and SARH delegated to illumination radar on TELARs. The early 30N6 "FLAP LID" on the S-300P handles tracking and illumination, but is not equipped with an autonomous search capability (later upgraded). 9S15 can simultaneously carry out active (3 coordinates) and passive (2 positions) search for targets.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300V places a greater emphasis on the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) mission, with a dedicated 9M82 (SA-12B "Giant") anti-ballistic missile. This missile is larger and only two can be held on each TELAR. It also has a dedicated ABM radar: the 9S19 "HIGH SCREEN" phased array radar at battalion level. A typical S-300V battalion is made up out of a target detection and designation unit, a guidance radar, and up to 6 TELARs. The detection and designation unit consists of the 9S457-1 command post, a 9S15MV or 9S15MT "BILL BOARD" all-round surveillance radar, and a 9S19M2 "HIGH SCREEN" sector surveillance radar. The S-300V uses the 9S32-1 "GRILL PAN" multi-channel guidance radar. Four types of missile-launcher vehicles can be used with the system:


title: S-300 missile system

text: A S-300V system may be controlled by an upper level command post system 9S52 Polyana-D4 integrating it with the Buk missile system into a brigade.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300VM ("Antey 2500") is an upgrade to the S-300V. It consists of a new command post vehicle, the 9S457ME and a selection of new radars. These consist of the 9S15M2, 9S15MT2E, and 9S15MV2E all-round surveillance radars, and the 9S19ME sector surveillance radar. The upgraded guidance radar has the Grau index 9S32ME. The system can still employ up to six TELARs, the 9A84ME launchers (up to 4 × 9M83ME missile), and up to 6 launcher/loader vehicles assigned to each launcher (2 × 9M83ME missile each). An upgraded version, dubbed S-300V4, will be delivered to the Russian army in 2011.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The Antey-2500 complex is the export version developed separately from the S-300 family and has been exported to Venezuela for an estimated export price of US$1 billion. The system has one type of missile in two versions, basic and amended with a sustainer stage that doubles the range (up to , according to other data up to ) and can simultaneously engage up to 24 aircraft or 16 ballistic targets in various combinations.


title: S-300 missile system

text: Different versions of the NPO Novator 9M82MD S-300V4 missiles have a range of 400 km at Mach 7.5 or a range of 350 km at Mach 9 and can destroy maneuvering targets even at very high altitudes.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-400 "Triumf" (Russian "С-400 «Триумф»", formerly known as the S-300PMU-3/С-300ПМУ-3, NATO reporting name "SA-21 Growler") was introduced in 1999 and featured a new, larger missile and several substantial upgrades and new features. The project encountered delays since its original announcement and deployment only began on a small scale in 2006. With an engagement range of up to , depending on the missile variant used, and specifically designed to counter stealth, it is by far the most advanced version, incorporating the ability to survive PGM threats and counter advanced jammers by using automatic frequency hopping.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The family of S-300 variants will work together in various combinations. Interworking with different variants is limited. Various higher level mobile command can coordinate into a single battery any quantity, variants, location and so on including integrating other air defence systems.


title: S-300 missile system

text: Variants can engage ballistic missiles as well as aircraft. It is a multi-channel anti-aircraft missile system, able to allocate up to 12 missiles to up to 6 different targets. The system can destroy ground targets at a range of 120 km. When launched on a ballistic trajectory, the range reaches up to 400 km.


title: S-300 missile system

text: A management system consisting of combat control and radar detection allows for fully automatic initiation and effective management of up to one hundred goals located up to 30–40 km from the base station. All tasks – detection, tracking, target setting, target designation, development of target designation, target acquisition, maintenance, capture, tracking and missile guidance, and assessment of results of firing system – are capable of being dealt with automatically.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The operator functions are to control the target detection and implementation of the launch of rockets. In a complex environment, you can manually intervene in the course of combat operation. None of the previous systems possessed these qualities.


title: S-300 missile system

text: Vertical launch missiles allow engagement of flying targets in any direction without traversing the launcher.


title: S-300 missile system

text: Missiles are guided by the 30N6 FLAP LID or naval 3R41 Volna (TOP DOME) radar using command guidance with terminal semi-active radar homing. Later versions use the 30N6 FLAP LID B or TOMB STONE radar to guide the missiles via command guidance/seeker-aided ground guidance (SAGG). SAGG is similar to the U.S.-made Patriot's TVM guidance scheme. The earlier 30N6 FLAP LID A can guide up to four missiles at a time to up to four targets, and can track up to 24 targets at once. The 30N6E FLAP LID B can guide up to two missiles per target to up to six targets simultaneously. Targets flying at up to Mach 2.5 can be successfully engaged or around Mach 8.5 for later models. One missile can be launched every three seconds. The mobile control centre is able to manage up to 12 TELs simultaneously.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The original warhead weighed , intermediate warheads weighed , and the latest warhead weighs . All are equipped with a proximity fuse and contact fuse. A warhead will have from 19,000 to 36,000 metal fragments, depending on missile type. The missiles themselves weigh between . Missiles are catapulted clear of the launching tubes before their rocket motor fires, and can accelerate at up to 100 "g" (1 km/s). They launch straight upwards and then tip over towards their target, removing the need to aim the missiles before launch. The missiles are steered with a combination of control fins and thrust vectoring vanes. The sections below give exact specifications of the radar and missiles in the different S-300 versions. Since the S-300PM, most vehicles are interchangeable across variations.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The 30N6 FLAP LID A is mounted on a small trailer. The 64N6 BIG BIRD is mounted on a large trailer along with a generator and typically towed with the now familiar 8-wheeled truck. The 76N6 CLAM SHELL (5N66M etc.) is mounted on a large trailer with a mast which is between tall. Usually is used with a mast. Target detection range of 90 km if altitude of the target of 500 meters above the ground (with a mast).


title: S-300 missile system

text: The original S-300P utilises a combination of the 5N66M continuous-wave radar Doppler radar for target acquisition and the 30N6 FLAP LID A I/J-band phased array digitally steered tracking and engagement radar. Both are mounted on trailers. In addition there is a trailer-mounted command centre and up to twelve trailer-mounted erector/launchers with four missiles each. The S-300PS/PM is similar but uses an upgraded 30N6 tracking and engagement radar with the command post integrated and has truck-mounted TELs.


title: S-300 missile system

text: If employed in an anti-ballistic missile or anti-cruise missile role, the 64N6 BIG BIRD E/F-band radar would also be included with the battery. It is capable of detecting ballistic missile class targets up to away travelling at up to and cruise missile class targets up to away. It also employs electronic beam steering and performs a scan once every twelve seconds.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The 36D6 TIN SHIELD radar can also be used to augment the S-300 system to provide earlier target detection than the FLAP LID radar allows. It can detect a missile-sized target flying at an altitude of at least away, at an altitude of at least away, and at high altitude up to away. In addition a 64N6 BIG BIRD E/F band target acquisition radar can be used which has a maximum detection range of .


title: S-300 missile system

text: Additional means of masking are used, such as camouflage nets and placement of components of the S-300 in trenches that considerably complicates detection from long range. Station interference with radar enemy, SPN-30, Veil-1.


title: S-300 missile system

text: Composite element to counter the radar missile program is for S-300 system Paperboy-E, the likelihood of intercepting missiles PIS type of HARM is 0.85 for missiles with active radar-guided, heat or body-managed system pointing the probability of interception of 0.85–0.99. Under the interception perceived inability of the object to cause harm because of his hit miss the target.


title: S-300 missile system

text: In 1991, 1992, and 1993, various versions of the S-300 destroyed ballistic missiles and other objects in exercises, with a high success rate (90% or more if 1 missile interceptor is used), according to Russian sources.


title: S-300 missile system

text: China is to test the S-300PMU2 effectiveness in destroying targets in real exercises. The planned targets include a UAV (4.6 km), a simulated strategic bomber (186 km), tactical missiles (range of the system to the point of interception 34 km and a height of 17.7 km), and pinpoint missiles.


title: S-300 missile system

text: In April 2005, NATO held a combat exercise in France and Germany called "Trial Hammer 05" to practice Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses missions. Participating countries were pleased that the Slovak Air Force brought an S-300PMU along, providing a unique opportunity for NATO to become familiar with the system.


title: S-300 missile system

text: Israel's purchase of F-35 Lightning II fighters was allegedly intended in part to nullify the threat of S-300 missiles that were, at the time the fighters were initially sought, subject to a potential arms sale to Iran.


title: S-300 missile system

text: In 2010, Russia announced that its military had deployed the S-300 systems in breakaway Abkhazia in 2008, leading to condemnation from the government of Georgia.


title: S-300 missile system

text: After a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 was shot down over Syria in November 2015, Russia deployed S-300 and S-400 systems to the region – some to the Khmeimim Air Base, some with the .


title: S-300 missile system

text: On 17 September 2018, a Syrian S-200 system downed a Russian military plane, killing 15 Russian service members. Moscow accused Israel of indirectly causing this incident, and announced that to keep its troops safe, it would supply Syria with modern S-300 anti-missile rocket systems. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu objected to the move in a telephone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin, stating that the delivery of S-300 anti-missile rocket systems to "irresponsible players" would be dangerous for the region.


title: S-300 missile system

text: In 2020, Syrian military officials criticized the S-300 air defense systems supplied by Russia, saying they failed to protect Syrian sites from the Israeli strikes. One official criticized the detection abilities of the system's radar.


title: S-300 missile system

text: On 17 May 2022, Israel said that a Russian operated S-300 missile system is said to have fired a missile at a F-16 operated by the IAF. If confirmed, it would be the first time Russian forces have fired on Israeli jets. According to Channel 13 news, Russia fired 13 missiles at an Israeli F-16, but none of the jets were intercepted by the missile salvos. On 26 July, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz confirmed the initial report of one missile being fired by a Russian operated S-300 system. However, he downplayed the incident as a "one-off", further stating that "Our jets weren’t even in the area". As the missile had not locked on, it was no threat to Israeli jets. It still remains the first use of a S-300 against the Israeli Air Force.


title: S-300 missile system

text: During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict the S-300 system took active part in an armed conflict for the first time, being listed in the active inventory of both sides in different versions. The Armenian systems were initially deployed around Yerevan.


title: S-300 missile system

text: On 29 September 2020, Azerbaijan reported that Armenia was moving its S-300 systems closer to the conflict zone, and vowed their destruction. On 30 September 2020, Azerbaijani Armed Forces claimed the destruction of an Armenian S-300 system without providing further details.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The first alleged combat firing of the S-300 happened during the night between 1 and 2 October when the Armenian Ministry of Defense claimed that Armenian S-300s had downed three Azerbaijani drones (not missiles as initially claimed) bound for Yerevan.


title: S-300 missile system

text: On 17 October 2020, Azerbaijani Armed Forces claimed the destruction of two radar elements part of an active Armenian S-300 SAM site being hit by a Bayraktar TB2 UCAV.


title: S-300 missile system

text: At the time Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Ukraine had around 100 active S-300 batteries with as many as 300 launchers inherited upon the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. By 8 April the Russians had knocked out at least 21 of the S-300 launchers that outside analysts confirmed with photos or videos, with the actual total of destroyed launchers likely higher. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his March 16 message to the U.S. Congress, had consequently asked specifically for help acquiring more of the long-range missiles. "You know what kind of defense systems we need: S-300 and other similar systems", Zelenskyy said.


title: S-300 missile system

text: As the United States and its allies tried to figure out how to deliver S-300s to Ukraine, one plan was for Slovakia to transfer to Ukraine its single battery of S-300s in exchange for the United States or some other country backfilling Slovakia's arsenal with a new air-defense system such as the American-made Patriot. A few days after Zelenskyy asked for S-300s, Germany agreed to deploy some of its Patriots to Slovakia as part of a NATO battlegroup.


title: S-300 missile system

text: On 30 March, Prime Minister Eduard Heger of Slovakia said that he supported sending some of its own S-300s to Ukraine "because this is the equipment that Ukraine needs the most", he told CNN. On 8 April, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed that Slovakia transferred a Soviet-era S-300 system to Ukraine and said that the U.S. would reposition an American Patriot missile system to Slovakia in return. It appears that it was only one battery that was donated. This was a system that Slovakia inherited from the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993.


title: S-300 missile system

text: On 11 April, the Associated Press reported Russia's claims to have destroyed several air defense systems in Ukraine over the previous two days, indicating a renewed push to gain air superiority and take out weapons Kyiv described as crucial ahead of a broad new offensive in the east. Moscow claimed to have hit four S-300 missile launchers provided by a European country it did not name, but never showed any concrete evidence of that. Slovakia had given Ukraine such a system the previous week, but denied it had been destroyed. Russia previously reported two strikes on similar systems in other places.


title: S-300 missile system

text: Russia's initial invasion was stalled on several fronts by stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces, which prevented the Russians from taking the capital and other cities. Failing to win full control of Ukraine's skies diminished Russia's ability to provide air cover for troops on the ground, limiting their advances while increasing exposure to greater losses. This was effectively proof of the essential value of Ukraine's S-300 defenses in place of the repeatedly requested no-fly zone rejected by NATO early in March as potentially risking escalation into World War III.


title: S-300 missile system

text: In early April, Iran also reportedly returned a large number of S-300 systems for use against Ukraine which it had purchased from Russia in 2007, along with a quantity of its own Iranian-made version, the Bavar-373, which has similar capabilities. Iran Foreign Minister Amir Abdolhainnan refuted allegations of arms transfers to Russia in a call with Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.


title: S-300 missile system

text: On 8 July, the governor of the Mykolaiv Oblast, Vitaly Kim, claimed that Russia has been using S-300 missiles in a land attack role by fitting them with GPS guidance and that some 12 missiles were fired this way. On 30 September, "The Wall Street Journal" reported that 16 Russian S-300 missiles configured for ground attack struck near Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 30 civilians and wounding 50 others. Debris from S-300 missiles was found after having struck buildings in Kharkiv on 8 October. Analysts from McKenzie Intelligence Services and the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that these missiles were likely from Russian systems repurposed for ground attack due to dwindling stock of more precise dedicated anti-surface missiles.


title: S-300 missile system

text: However, some reported surface-surface missile strikes by S-300 missiles may actually be instances of Ukrainian S-300s failing to intercept targets, and subsequently falling onto civilian areas on the ground. The most notable case of such unintentional strikes occurred on November 15 2022, when a stray S-300 missile, on a ballistic trajectory, fell near the village of Przewodow in Poland, killing 2.


title: S-300 missile system

text: The S-300 is mainly used in Eastern Europe and Asia, although sources are inconsistent about which countries possess the system.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis characterized by long-term inflammation of the joints of the spine typically where the spine joins the pelvis. Occasionally areas affected may include other joints such as the shoulders or hips, eye and bowel problems may occur as well as back pain. Joint mobility in the affected areas generally worsens over time.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Although the cause of ankylosing spondylitis is unknown, it is believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. More than 85% of those affected in the UK have a specific human leukocyte antigen known as the HLA-B27 antigen. The underlying mechanism is believed to be autoimmune or autoinflammatory. Diagnosis is typically based on the symptoms with support from medical imaging and blood tests. AS is a type of seronegative spondyloarthropathy, meaning that tests show no presence of rheumatoid factor (RF) antibodies.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: There is no known cure for AS. Treatments may include medication, exercise, physical therapy, and in rare cases surgery. Medications used include NSAIDs, steroids, DMARDs such as sulfasalazine, and biologic agents such as TNF inhibitors.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Approximately 0.1% and 0.8% of all humans are affected with onset typically occurring in young adults. Males and females are equally affected; however, women are more likely than men to experience inflammation rather than fusion.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The signs and symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis often appear gradually, with peak onset between 20 and 30 years of age. Initial symptoms are usually a chronic dull pain in the lower back or gluteal region combined with stiffness of the lower back. Individuals often experience pain and stiffness that awakens them in the early morning hours.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: As the disease progresses, loss of spinal mobility and chest expansion, with a limitation of anterior flexion, lateral flexion, and extension of the lumbar spine are seen. Systemic features are common with weight loss, fever, or fatigue often present. Pain is often severe at rest but may improve with physical activity. Inflammation and pain may recur to varying degrees regardless of rest and movement.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: AS can occur in any part of the spine or the entire spine, often with pain localized to either buttock or the back of the thigh from the sacroiliac joint. Arthritis in the hips and shoulders may also occur. When the condition presents before the age of 18, AS is more likely to cause pain and swelling of large lower limb joints, such as the knees. In prepubescent cases, pain and swelling may also manifest in the ankles and feet where heel pain and enthesopathy commonly develop. Less common occurrences include ectasia of the sacral nerve root sheaths.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: About 30% of people with AS will also experience anterior uveitis causing eye pain, redness, and blurred vision. This is thought to be due to the association that both AS and uveitis have with the presence of the HLA-B27 antigen. Cardiovascular involvement may include inflammation of the aorta, aortic valve insufficiency or disturbances of the heart's electrical conduction system. Lung involvement is characterized by progressive fibrosis of the upper portion of the lung.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a systemic rheumatic disease, meaning it affects the entire body. 1–2% of individuals with the HLA-B27 genotype develop the disease. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF α) and Interleukin 1 (IL-1) are also implicated in ankylosing spondylitis. Autoantibodies specific for AS have not been identified. Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs) are associated with AS, but do not correlate with disease severity.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) A/G variant rs10440635 is close to the "PTGER4" gene on human chromosome 5 has been associated with an increased number of cases of AS in a population recruited from the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The "PTGER4" gene codes for the prostaglandin EP4 receptor (EP4), one of four receptors for prostaglandin E2. Activation of EP4 promotes bone remodeling and deposition (see EP4, bone) and EP4 is highly expressed at vertebral column sites involved in AS. These findings suggest that excessive EP4 activation contributes to pathological bone remodeling and deposition in AS and that the A/G variant rs10440635a of "PTGER4" predisposes individuals to this disease, possibly by influencing EP4's production or expression pattern.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The association of AS with HLA-B27 suggests the condition involves CD8 T cells, which interact with HLA-B. This interaction is not proven to involve a self-antigen, and at least in the related reactive arthritis, which follows infections, the antigens involved are likely to be derived from intracellular microorganisms. There is, however, a possibility that CD4+ T lymphocytes are involved in an aberrant way, since HLA-B27 appears to have a number of unusual properties, including possibly an ability to interact with T cell receptors in association with CD4 (usually CD8+ cytotoxic T cell with HLAB antigen as it is a MHC class 1 antigen).


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: "Bamboo spine" develops when the outer fibers of the fibrous ring ("anulus fibrosus disci intervertebralis") of the intervertebral discs ossify, which results in the formation of marginal syndesmophytes between adjoining vertebrae.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Ankylosing spondylitis is a member of the more broadly defined disease axial spondyloarthritis. Axial spondyloarthritis can be divided into two categories: radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (which is a synonym for ankylosing spondylitis) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (which include less severe forms and early stages of ankylosing spondylitis).


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: While AS can be diagnosed through the description of radiological changes in the sacroiliac joints and spine, there are currently no direct tests (blood or imaging) to unambiguously diagnose early forms of ankylosing spondylitis (non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis). Diagnosis of non-radiologic axial spondyloarthritis is therefore more difficult and is based on the presence of several typical disease features.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: If these criteria still do not give a compelling diagnosis magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be useful. MRI can show inflammation of the sacroiliac joint.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The earliest changes demonstrable by plain X-ray shows erosions and sclerosis in sacroiliac joints. Progression of the erosions leads to widening of the joint space and bony sclerosis. X-ray spine can reveal squaring of vertebrae with bony spur formation called syndesmophyte. This causes the bamboo spine appearance. A drawback of X-ray diagnosis is the signs and symptoms of AS have usually been established as long as 7–10 years prior to X-ray-evident changes occurring on a plain film X-ray, which means a delay of as long as 10 years before adequate therapies can be introduced.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Options for earlier diagnosis are tomography and MRI of the sacroiliac joints, but the reliability of these tests is still unclear.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: During acute inflammatory periods, people with AS may show an increase in the blood concentration of CRP and an increase in the ESR, but there are many with AS whose CRP and ESR rates do not increase, so normal CRP and ESR results do not always correspond with the amount of inflammation that is actually present. In other words, some people with AS have normal levels of CRP and ESR, despite experiencing a significant amount of inflammation in their bodies.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Variations of the HLA-B gene increase the risk of developing ankylosing spondylitis, although it is not a diagnostic test. Those with the HLA-B27 variant are at a higher risk than the general population of developing the disorder. HLA-B27, demonstrated in a blood test, can occasionally help with diagnosis, but in itself is not diagnostic of AS in a person with back pain. Over 85% of people that have been diagnosed with AS are HLA-B27 positive, although this ratio varies from population to population (about 50% of African Americans with AS possess HLA-B27 in contrast to the figure of 80% among those with AS who are of Mediterranean descent).


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), developed in Bath (UK), is an index designed to detect the inflammatory burden of active disease. The BASDAI can help to establish a diagnosis of AS in the presence of other factors such as HLA-B27 positivity, persistent buttock pain which resolves with exercise, and X-ray or MRI-evident involvement of the sacroiliac joints. It can be easily calculated and accurately assesses the need for additional therapy; a person with AS with a score of four out of a possible 10 points while on adequate NSAID therapy is usually considered a good candidate for biologic therapy.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) is a functional index which can accurately assess functional impairment due to the disease, as well as improvements following therapy. The BASFI is not usually used as a diagnostic tool, but rather as a tool to establish a current baseline and subsequent response to therapy.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Juvenile ankylosing spondylitis (JAS) is a rare form of the disease which differs from the more common adult form. Enthesophathy and arthritis of large joints of the lower extremities is more common than the characteristic early-morning back pain seen in adult AS. Ankylosing tarsitis of the ankle is a common feature, as is the more classical findings of seronegative ANA and RF as well as presence of the HLA-B27 allele. Primary engagement of the appendicular joints may explain delayed diagnosis; however, other common symptoms of AS such as uveitis, diarrhea, pulmonary disease and heart valve disease may lead suspicion away from other juvenile spondyloarthropathies.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The Schober's test is a useful clinical measure of flexion of the lumbar spine performed during the physical examination.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The major types of medications used to treat ankylosing spondylitis are pain-relievers and drugs aimed at stopping or slowing the progression of the disease. All of these have potentially serious side effects. Pain-relieving drugs come in two major classes:


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: In severe cases of AS, surgery can be an option in the form of joint replacements, particularly in the knees and hips. Surgical correction is also possible for those with severe flexion deformities (severe downward curvature) of the spine, particularly in the neck, although this procedure is considered very risky.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: In addition, AS can have some manifestations which make anesthesia more complex. Changes in the upper airway can lead to difficulties in intubating the airway, spinal and epidural anesthesia may be difficult owing to calcification of ligaments, and a small number of people have aortic insufficiency. The stiffness of the thoracic ribs results in ventilation being mainly diaphragm-driven, so there may also be a decrease in pulmonary function.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Though physical therapy remedies have been scarcely documented, some therapeutic exercises are used to help manage lower back, neck, knee, and shoulder pain. There is moderate quality evidence that therapeutic exercise programmes help reduce pain and improve function. Some therapeutic exercises include:


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Moderate-to-high impact exercises like jogging are generally not recommended or recommended with restrictions due to the jarring of affected vertebrae that can worsen pain and stiffness in some with AS.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Research by Alan Ebringer at King's College in London, beginning in the 1980s, has implicated overgrowth of the bacterium "Klebsiella pneumoniae" in the symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis. The body produces antibodies that attack "Klebsiella pneumoniae". Enzymes made by the bacterium resemble human proteins, including three types of collagen (I, III, IV) and the HLA-B27 complex of glycoproteins. The antibodies therefore attack these human proteins, producing the symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis. Ebringer and others recommend low-starch or no-starch diets.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Prognosis is related to disease severity. AS can range from mild to progressively debilitating and from medically controlled to refractory. Some cases may have times of active inflammation followed by times of remission resulting in minimal disability while others never have times of remission and have acute inflammation and pain, leading to significant disability. As the disease progresses, it can cause the vertebrae and the lumbosacral joint to ossify, resulting in the fusion of the spine. This places the spine in a vulnerable state because it becomes one bone, which causes it to lose its range of motion as well as putting it at risk for spinal fractures. This not only limits mobility but reduces the affected person's quality of life. Complete fusion of the spine can lead to a reduced range of motion and increased pain, as well as total joint destruction which could lead to a joint replacement.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Osteoporosis is common in ankylosing spondylitis, both from chronic systemic inflammation and decreased mobility resulting from AS. Over a long-term period, osteopenia or osteoporosis of the AP spine may occur, causing eventual compression fractures and a back "hump". Hyperkyphosis from ankylosing spondylitis can also lead to impairment in mobility and balance, as well as impaired peripheral vision, which increases the risk of falls which can cause fracture of already-fragile vertebrae. Typical signs of progressed AS are the visible formation of syndesmophytes on X-rays and abnormal bone outgrowths similar to osteophytes affecting the spine. In compression fractures of the vertebrae, paresthesia is a complication due to the inflammation of the tissue surrounding nerves.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Organs commonly affected by AS, other than the axial spine and other joints, are the heart, lungs, eyes, colon, and kidneys. Other complications are aortic regurgitation, Achilles tendinitis, AV node block, and amyloidosis. Owing to lung fibrosis, chest X-rays may show apical fibrosis, while pulmonary function testing may reveal a restrictive lung defect. Very rare complications involve neurologic conditions such as the cauda equina syndrome.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Mortality is increased in people with AS and circulatory disease is the most frequent cause of death. People with AS have an increased risk of 60% for cerebrovascular mortality, and an overall increased risk of 50% for vascular mortality. About one third of those with ankylosing spondylitis have severe disease, which reduces life expectancy.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: As increased mortality in ankylosing spondylitis is related to disease severity, factors negatively affecting outcomes include:


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The hunched position that often results from complete spinal fusion can have an effect on a person's gait. Increased spinal kyphosis will lead to a forward and downward shift in center of mass (COM). This shift in COM has been shown to be compensated by increased knee flexion and ankle dorsiflexion. The gait of someone with ankylosing spondylitis often has a cautious pattern because they have decreased ability to absorb shock, and they cannot see the horizon.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Between 0.1% and 0.8% of people are affected. The disease is most common in Northern European countries, and seen least in people of Afro-Caribbean descent. Although the ratio of male to female disease is reportedly 3:1, many rheumatologists believe the number of women with AS is underdiagnosed, as most women tend to experience milder cases of the disease. The majority of people with AS, including 95 percent of people of European descent with the disease, express the HLA-B27 antigen and high levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the blood. In 2007, a team of researchers discovered two genes that may contribute to the cause of AS: ARTS-1 and IL23R. Together with HLA-B27, these two genes account for roughly 70 percent of the overall number of cases of the disease.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: Ankylosing spondylitis has a long history, having been distinguished from rheumatoid arthritis by Galen as early as the 2nd century AD. Skeletal evidence of the disease (ossification of joints and entheses primarily of the axial skeleton, known as "bamboo spine") was thought to be found in the skeletal remains of a 5000-year-old Egyptian mummy with evidence of bamboo spine. However, a subsequent report found that this was not the case.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The anatomist and surgeon Realdo Colombo described what could have been the disease in 1559, and the first account of pathologic changes to a skeleton possibly associated with AS was published in 1691 by Bernard Connor. In 1818, Benjamin Brodie became the first physician to document a person believed to have active AS who also had accompanying iritis.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: In 1858, David Tucker published a small booklet which clearly described the case of Leonard Trask, who had severe spinal deformity subsequent to AS. In 1833, Trask fell from a horse, exacerbating the condition and resulting in severe deformity. Tucker reported:


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The account of Trask became the first documented case of AS in the United States, owing to its indisputable description of inflammatory disease characteristics of AS and the hallmark of deforming injury in AS.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: In the late nineteenth century, the neurophysiologist Vladimir Bekhterev of Russia in 1893, Adolph Strümpell of Germany in 1897, and Pierre Marie of France in 1898 were the first to give adequate descriptions which permitted an accurate diagnosis of AS prior to severe spinal deformity. For this reason, AS is also known as Bekhterev disease, Bechterew's disease or Marie–Strümpell disease.


title: Ankylosing spondylitis

text: The word is from Greek "ankylos" meaning crooked, curved or rounded, "spondylos" meaning vertebra, and "-itis" meaning inflammation.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster, in central London, England.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Its name, which derives from the neighbouring Westminster Abbey, may refer to several historic structures but most often: the "Old Palace", a medieval building-complex largely destroyed by fire in 1834, or its replacement, the "New Palace" that stands today. The palace is owned by the Crown. Committees appointed by both houses manage the building and report to the Speaker of the House of Commons and to the Lord Speaker.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The first royal palace constructed on the site dated from the 11th century, and Westminster became the primary residence of the Kings of England until fire destroyed the royal apartments in 1512 (after which, the nearby Palace of Whitehall was established). The remainder of Westminster continued to serve as the home of the Parliament of England, which had met there since the 13th century, and also as the seat of the Royal Courts of Justice, based in and around Westminster Hall. In 1834 an even greater fire ravaged the heavily rebuilt Houses of Parliament, and the only significant medieval structures to survive were Westminster Hall, the Cloisters of St Stephen's, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, and the Jewel Tower.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: In the subsequent competition for the reconstruction of the Palace, the architect Charles Barry won with a design for new buildings in the Gothic Revival style, specifically inspired by the English Perpendicular Gothic style of the 14th–16th centuries. The remains of the Old Palace (except the detached Jewel Tower) were incorporated into its much larger replacement, which contains over 1,100 rooms organised symmetrically around two series of courtyards and which has a floor area of . Part of the New Palace's area of was reclaimed from the River Thames, which is the setting of its nearly façade, called the River Front. Augustus Pugin, a leading authority on Gothic architecture and style, assisted Barry and designed the interior of the Palace. Construction started in 1840 and lasted for 30 years, suffering great delays and cost overruns, as well as the death of both leading architects; works for the interior decoration continued intermittently well into the 20th century. Major conservation work has taken place since then to reverse the effects of London's air pollution, and extensive repairs followed the Second World War, including the simplified reconstruction of the Commons Chamber following its bombing in 1941.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom; "Westminster" has become a metonym for the UK Parliament and the British Government, and the Westminster system of government commemorates the name of the palace. The 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 United Kingdom in general, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city, and an emblem of parliamentary democracy. Tsar Nicholas I of Russia called the new palace "a dream in stone". The Palace of Westminster has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The site of the Palace of Westminster was strategically important during the Middle Ages, as it was located on the banks of the River Thames. Known in medieval times as Thorney Island, the site may have been first-used for a royal residence by Canute the Great during his reign from 1016 to 1035. St Edward the Confessor, the penultimate Anglo-Saxon monarch of England, built a royal palace on Thorney Island just west of the City of London at about the same time as he built (1045–1050) Westminster Abbey. Thorney Island and the surrounding area soon became known as Westminster (from the words "west" and "minster"). Neither the buildings used by the Anglo-Saxons nor those used by William I () survive. The oldest existing part of the Palace (Westminster Hall) dates from the reign of William I's successor, King William II ().


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Palace of Westminster functioned as the English monarchs' principal residence in the late Medieval period. The predecessors of Parliament, the Witenagemot and the Curia Regis, met in Westminster Hall (although they followed the King when he moved to other palaces). Simon de Montfort's Parliament, the first to include representatives of the major towns, met at the Palace in 1265. The "Model Parliament", the first official Parliament of England, met there in 1295, and almost all subsequent English Parliaments and then, after 1707, all British Parliaments have met at the Palace.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: In 1512, during the early years of the reign of King Henry VIII, fire destroyed the royal residential ("privy") area of the palace. In 1534 Henry VIII acquired York Place from Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a powerful minister who had lost the King's favour. Renaming it the Palace of Whitehall, Henry used it as his principal residence. Although Westminster officially remained a royal palace, it was used by the two Houses of Parliament and by the various royal law courts.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Being originally a royal residence, the Palace included no purpose-built chambers for the two Houses. Important state ceremonies took place in the Painted Chamber – originally built in the 13th century as the main bedchamber for King Henry III (). In 1801 the Upper House moved into the larger White Chamber (also known as the Lesser Hall), which had housed the Court of Requests; the expansion of the peerage by King George III during the first ministry (1783–1801) of William Pitt the Younger, along with the imminent Act of Union with Ireland, necessitated the move, as the original chamber could not accommodate the increased number of peers.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The House of Commons, which did not have a chamber of its own, sometimes held its debates in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. The Commons acquired a permanent home at the Palace in St Stephen's Chapel, the former chapel of the royal palace, during the reign of Edward VI (). In 1547 the building became available for the Commons' use following the disbanding of St Stephen's College. Alterations were made to St Stephen's Chapel over the following three centuries for the convenience of the lower House, gradually destroying, or covering up, its original mediaeval appearance. A major renovation project undertaken by Christopher Wren in the late-17th century completely redesigned the building's interior.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Palace of Westminster as a whole underwent significant alterations from the 18th century onwards, as Parliament struggled to carry out its business in the limited available space of ageing buildings. Calls for an entirely new palace went unheeded – instead more buildings of varying quality and style were added. A new west façade, known as the Stone Building, facing onto St Margaret's Street, was designed by John Vardy and built in the Palladian style between 1755 and 1770, providing more space for document storage and for committee rooms. The House of Commons and House of Lords Engrossing Office of Henry (Robert) Gunnell (1724–1794) and Edward Barwell was on the lower floor beside the corner tower at the west side of Vardy's western façade. It was here where the Tax Laws for the American Colonies were put together. A new official residence for the Speaker of the House of Commons was built adjoining St Stephen's Chapel and completed in 1795. The neo-Gothic architect James Wyatt carried out works both on the House of Lords and on the House of Commons between 1799 and 1801, including alterations to the exterior of St Stephen's Chapel and a much-derided new neo-Gothic building (referred to by Wyatt's critics as "The Cotton Mill") adjoining the House of Lords and facing onto Old Palace Yard.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Sir John Soane substantially remodelled the palace complex between 1824 and 1827. The medieval House of Lords chamber, which had been the target of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, was demolished as part of this work in order to build a new Royal Gallery and a ceremonial entrance at the southern end of the palace. Soane's work at the palace also included new library facilities for both Houses of Parliament and new law courts for the Chancery and King's Bench. Soane's alterations caused controversy owing to his use of neo-classical architectural styles, seen as conflicting with the Gothic style of the original buildings.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: On 16 October 1834, a fire broke out in the Palace after an overheated stove used to destroy the Exchequer's stockpile of tally sticks set fire to the House of Lords Chamber. In the resulting conflagration both Houses of Parliament were destroyed, along with most of the other buildings in the palace complex. Westminster Hall was saved thanks to fire-fighting efforts and a change in the direction of the wind. The Jewel Tower, the Undercroft Chapel and the Cloisters and Chapter House of St Stephen's were the only other parts of the Palace to survive.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Immediately after the fire, King William IV offered the almost-completed Buckingham Palace to Parliament, hoping to dispose of a residence he disliked. The building was considered unsuitable for parliamentary use, however, and the gift was rejected. Proposals to move to Charing Cross or St James's Park had a similar fate; the allure of tradition and the historical and political associations of Westminster proved too strong for relocation, despite the deficiencies of that site. In the meantime, the immediate priority was to provide accommodation for the next Parliament, and so the Painted Chamber and White Chamber were hastily repaired for temporary use.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: In 1835, following that year's General Election, the King permitted Parliament to make "plans for [its] permanent accommodation". Each house created a committee and a public debate over the proposed styles ensued.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Lords Chamber was completed in 1847, and the Commons Chamber in 1852 (at which point architect Charles Barry received a knighthood). Although most of the work had been carried out by 1860, construction was not finished until a decade afterwards.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: During the Second World War (see "The Blitz"), the Palace of Westminster was hit by bombs on fourteen separate occasions. One bomb fell into Old Palace Yard on 26 September 1940 and severely damaged the south wall of St Stephen's Porch and the west front. The statue of Richard the Lionheart was lifted from its pedestal by the force of the blast, and its upheld sword bent, an image that was used as a symbol of the strength of democracy, "which would bend but not break under attack".


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The worst raid took place in the night of 10–11 May 1941, when the Palace took at least twelve hits and three people (two policemen and Resident Superintendent of the House of Lords Edward Elliott) were killed. An incendiary bomb hit the chamber of the House of Commons and set it on fire; another set the roof of Westminster Hall alight. The firefighters could not save both, and a decision was taken to try to rescue the Hall. In this they were successful; the abandoned Commons Chamber, on the other hand, was destroyed, as was the Members' Lobby. A bomb also struck the Lords Chamber, but went through the floor without exploding. The Clock Tower took a hit by a small bomb or anti-aircraft shell at the eaves of the roof, suffering much damage there. All the glass on the south dial was blown out, but the hands and bells were not affected, and the Great Clock continued to keep time accurately.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Following the destruction of the Commons Chamber, the Lords offered their own debating chamber for the use of the Commons; for their own sittings, the Queen's Robing Room was converted into a makeshift chamber. The Commons Chamber was rebuilt after the war under the architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, in a simplified version of the old chamber's style. The work was undertaken by John Mowlem & Co., and construction lasted until 1950. The Lords Chamber was then renovated over the ensuing months; the Lords re-occupied it in May 1951.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: As the need for office space in the Palace increased, Parliament acquired office space in the nearby Norman Shaw Building in 1975, and in the custom-built Portcullis House, completed in 2000. This increase has enabled all Members of Parliament (MP) to have their own office facilities.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Palace of Westminster, which is a Grade 1 listed building, is in urgent need of extensive restoration to its fabric. A 2012 pre-feasibility report set out several options, including the possibility of Parliament moving to other premises while work is carried out. At the same time, the option of moving Parliament to a new location was discounted, with staying at the Westminster site preferred. An Independent Options Appraisal Report released in June 2015 found that the cost to restore the Palace of Westminster could be as much as £7.1 billion if MPs were to remain at the Palace whilst works take place. MPs decided in 2016 to vacate the building for six years starting in 2022. In January 2018, the House of Commons voted for both houses to vacate the Palace of Westminster to allow for a complete refurbishment of the building which may take up to six years starting in 2025. It is expected that the House of Commons will be temporarily housed in a replica chamber to be located in Richmond House in Whitehall and the House of Lords will be housed at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Parliament Square.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: In September 2022, the formation of a new joint committee of the House of Lords and the House of Commons was announced to oversee the necessary works: called the Restoration and Renewal Client Board, its Parliamentarian members are:


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Sir Charles Barry's collaborative design for the Palace of Westminster uses the Perpendicular Gothic style, which was popular during the 15th century and returned during the Gothic revival of the 19th century. Barry was a classical architect, but he was aided by the Gothic architect Augustus Pugin. Westminster Hall, which was built in the 11th century and survived the fire of 1834, was incorporated in Barry's design. Pugin was displeased with the result of the work, especially with the symmetrical layout designed by Barry; he famously remarked, "All Grecian, sir; Tudor details on a classic body".


title: Palace of Westminster

text: In 1839 Charles Barry toured Britain, looking at quarries and buildings, with a committee which included two leading geologists and a stonecarver. They selected Anston, a sand-coloured magnesian limestone quarried in the villages of Anston, South Yorkshire, and Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire. Two quarries were chosen from a list of 102, with the majority of the stone coming from the former. A crucial consideration was transportation, achieved on water via the Chesterfield Canal, the North Sea, and the rivers Trent and Thames. Furthermore, Anston was cheaper, and "could be supplied in blocks up to four feet thick and lent itself to elaborate carving".


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Barry's New Palace of Westminster was rebuilt using the sandy-coloured Anston limestone. However, the stone soon began to decay due to pollution and the poor quality of some of the stone used. Although such defects were clear as early as 1849, nothing was done for the remainder of the 19th century even after much studying. During the 1910s, however, it became clear that some of the stonework had to be replaced. In 1928 it was deemed necessary to use Clipsham stone, a honey-coloured limestone from Rutland, to replace the decayed Anston. The project began in the 1930s but was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War, and completed only during the 1950s. By the 1960s pollution had again begun to take its toll. A stone conservation and restoration programme to the external elevations and towers began in 1981, and ended in 1994.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Palace of Westminster has three main towers. Of these, the largest and tallest is the Victoria Tower, which occupies the south-western corner of the Palace. Originally named "The King's Tower" because the fire of 1834 which destroyed the old Palace of Westminster occurred during the reign of King William IV, the tower was an integral part of Barry's original design, of which he intended it to be the most memorable element. The architect conceived the great square tower as the keep of a legislative "castle" (echoing his selection of the portcullis as his identifying mark in the planning competition), and used it as the royal entrance to the Palace and as a fireproof repository for the archives of Parliament. The Victoria Tower was re-designed several times, and its height increased progressively; upon its completion in 1858, it was the tallest secular building in the world.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: At the base of the tower is the Sovereign's Entrance, used by the monarch whenever entering the Palace to open Parliament or for other state occasions. The high archway is richly decorated with sculptures, including statues of Saints George, Andrew and Patrick, as well as of Queen Victoria herself. The main body of the Victoria Tower houses the three million documents of the Parliamentary Archives in of steel shelves spread over 12 floors; these include the master copies of all Acts of Parliament since 1497, and important manuscripts such as the original Bill of Rights and the death warrant of King Charles I. At the top of the cast-iron pyramidal roof is a flagstaff, from which flies the Royal Standard (the monarch's personal flag) when the Sovereign is present in the Palace. On all other days the Union Flag flies from the mast.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: At the north end of the Palace rises the most famous of the towers, the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben. At , it is only slightly shorter than the Victoria Tower but much slimmer. Originally known simply as the Clock Tower (the name Elizabeth Tower was conferred on it in 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II), it houses the Great Clock of Westminster, built by Edward John Dent on designs by amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison. Striking the hour to within a second of the time, the Great Clock achieved standards of accuracy considered impossible by 19th-century clockmakers, and it has remained consistently reliable since it entered service in 1859. The time is shown on four dials in diameter, which are made of milk glass and are lit from behind at night; the hour hand is long and the minute hand . The Clock Tower was designed by Augustus Pugin and built after his death. Charles Barry asked Pugin to design the clock tower because Pugin had previously helped Barry design the Palace.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: It rises up from the ground in this stately rhythm, higher and higher, before you reach the clock face, picked out as a giant rose, its petals fringed with gold. There's some medieval windows above that and then you hits the grey [cast iron] roof, its greyness relieved by these delicate little windows, again picked out in gold leaf. And then it rises up again in this great jet of gold to the higher roof that curves gracefully upwards to a spire with a crown and flowers and a cross. It's elegant, it's grand, it's pretty and has this fairy-tale quality and it makes you proud to be British.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Five bells hang in the belfry above the clock. The four quarter bells strike the Westminster Chimes every quarter-hour. The largest bell strikes the hours; officially called "The Great Bell of Westminster", it is generally referred to as "Big Ben", a nickname of uncertain origins which, over time, has been colloquially applied to the whole tower. The first bell to bear this name cracked during testing and was recast; the present bell later developed a crack of its own, which gives it a distinctive sound. It is the third-heaviest bell in Britain, weighing 13.8 tonnes. In the lantern at the top of Elizabeth Tower is the Ayrton Light, which is lit when either House of Parliament is sitting after dark. It was installed in 1885 at the request of Queen Victoria—so that she could see from Buckingham Palace whether the members were "at work"—and named after Acton Smee Ayrton, who was First Commissioner of Works in the 1870s.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The shortest of the Palace's three principal towers (at ), the octagonal Central Tower stands over the middle of the building, immediately above the Central Lobby. It was added to the plans on the insistence of Dr. David Boswell Reid, who was in charge of the ventilation of the new Houses of Parliament: his plan called for a great central chimney through which what he called "vitiated air" would be drawn out of the building with the heat and smoke of about four hundred fires around the Palace. To accommodate the tower, Barry was forced to lower the lofty ceiling he had planned for the Central Lobby and reduce the height of its windows; however, the tower itself proved to be an opportunity to improve the Palace's exterior design, and Barry chose for it the form of a spire in order to balance the effect of the more massive lateral towers. In the end, the Central Tower failed completely to fulfill its stated purpose, but it is notable as "the first occasion when mechanical services had a real influence on architectural design".


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Apart from the pinnacles which rise from between the window bays along the fronts of the Palace, numerous turrets enliven the building's skyline. Like the Central Tower, these have been added for practical reasons, and mask ventilation shafts.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: There are some other features of the Palace of Westminster which are also known as towers. St Stephen's Tower is positioned in the middle of the west front of the Palace, between Westminster Hall and Old Palace Yard, and houses the public entrance to the Houses of Parliament, known as "St Stephen's Entrance". The pavilions at the northern and southern ends of the river front are called Speaker's Tower and Chancellor's Tower respectively, after the presiding officers of the two Houses at the time of the Palace's reconstruction—the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Chancellor. Speaker's Tower contains Speaker's House, the official residence of the Speaker of the Commons.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: There are a number of small gardens surrounding the Palace of Westminster. Victoria Tower Gardens is open as a public park along the side of the river south of the palace. Black Rod's Garden (named after the office of Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod) is closed to the public and is used as a private entrance. Old Palace Yard, in front of the Palace, is paved over and covered in concrete security blocks ("see security below"). Cromwell Green (also on the frontage, and in 2006 enclosed by hoardings for the construction of a new visitor centre), New Palace Yard (on the north side) and Speaker's Green (directly north of the Palace) are all private and closed to the public. College Green, opposite the House of Lords, is a small triangular green commonly used for television interviews with politicians.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Palace of Westminster contains over 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases and of passageways, which are spread over four floors. The ground floor is occupied by offices, dining rooms and bars; the first floor (known as the "principal floor") houses the main rooms of the Palace, including the debating chambers, the lobbies and the libraries. The top-two floors are used as committee rooms and offices.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Some of the interiors were designed and painted by J. G. Crace, working in collaboration with Pugin and others. For example, Crace decorated and gilded the ceiling of the Chapel of St. Mary Undercroft.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Instead of one main entrance, the Palace features separate entrances for the different user groups of the building. The Sovereign's Entrance, at the base of the Victoria Tower, is located in the south-west corner of the Palace and is the starting point of the royal procession route, the suite of ceremonial rooms used by the monarch at State Openings of Parliament. This consists of the Royal Staircase, the Norman Porch, the Robing Room, the Royal Gallery and the Prince's Chamber, and culminates in the Lords Chamber, where the ceremony takes place. Members of the House of Lords use the Peers' Entrance in the middle of the Old Palace Yard front, which is covered by a stone carriage porch and opens to an entrance hall. A staircase from there leads, through a corridor, to the Prince's Chamber.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Members of Parliament enter their part of the building from the Members' Entrance in the south side of New Palace Yard. Their route passes through a cloakroom in the lower level of the Cloisters and eventually reaches the Members' Lobby directly south of the Commons Chamber. From New Palace Yard, access can also be gained to the Speaker's Court and the main entrance of the Speaker's House, located in the pavilion at the north-east corner of the Palace


title: Palace of Westminster

text: St Stephen's Entrance, roughly in the middle of the building's western front, is the entrance for members of the public. From there, visitors walk through a flight of stairs to St Stephen's Hall, location of a collection of marbles, which includes Somers Mansfield, Hampden, Walpole, Pitt and Fox. Traversal of this hallway brings them to the octagonal Central Lobby, the hub of the Palace. This hall is flanked by symmetrical corridors decorated with fresco paintings, which lead to the ante-rooms and debating chambers of the two Houses: the Members' Lobby and Commons Chamber to the north, and the Peers' Lobby and Lords Chamber to the south. Another mural-lined corridor leads east to the Lower Waiting Hall and the staircase to the first floor, where the river front is occupied by a row of 16 committee rooms. Directly below them, the libraries of the two Houses overlook the Thames from the principal floor.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The grandest entrance to the Palace of Westminster is the Sovereign's Entrance beneath the Victoria Tower. It was designed for the use of the monarch, who travels from Buckingham Palace by carriage every year for the State Opening of Parliament. The Imperial State Crown, which is worn by the sovereign for the ceremony, as well as the Cap of Maintenance and the Sword of State, which are symbols of royal authority and are borne before the monarch during the procession, also travel to the Palace by coach, accompanied by members of the Royal Household; the regalia, as they are collectively known, arrive some time before the monarch and are exhibited in the Royal Gallery until they are needed. The Sovereign's Entrance is also the formal entrance used by visiting dignitaries, as well as the starting point of public tours of the Palace.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: From there, the Royal Staircase leads up to the principal floor with a broad, unbroken flight of 26 steps made of grey granite. The staircase is followed by the Norman Porch, a square landing distinguished by its central clustered column and the intricate ceiling it supports, which is made up of four groin vaults with lierne ribs and carved bosses. The Porch was named for its proposed decorative scheme, based on Norman history. In the event, neither the planned statues of Norman kings nor the frescoes were executed, and only the stained-glass window portraying Edward the Confessor hints at this theme. Queen Victoria is depicted twice in the room: as a young woman in the other stained-glass window, and near the end of her life, sitting on the throne of the House of Lords, in a copy of a 1900 painting by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant which hangs on the eastern wall. The sixteen plinths intended for the statues now house busts of prime ministers who have sat in the House of Lords, such as the Earl Grey and the Marquess of Salisbury. A double door opposite the stairs leads to the Royal Gallery, and another to the right opens to the Robing Room.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The King's Robing Room (usually referred to simply as "the Robing Room") lies at the southern end of the ceremonial axis of the Palace and occupies the centre of the building's south front, overlooking the Victoria Tower Gardens. As its name indicates, it is where the Sovereign prepares for the State Opening of Parliament by donning official robes and wearing the Imperial State Crown. The focus of this richly decorated room is the Chair of State; it sits on a dais of three steps, under a canopy adorned with the arms and floral emblems of England, Scotland and Ireland. A panel of purple velvet forms the backdrop to the chair, embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework with the royal arms, surrounded by stars and "VR" monograms. Edward Barry designed both the chair—the cushion and back of which are also embroidered—and the ornate marble fireplace across the room, which features gilded statuettes of Saint George and Saint Michael.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The decorative theme of the room is the legend of King Arthur, considered by many Victorians the source of their nationhood. Five frescos painted by William Dyce between 1848 and 1864 cover the walls, depicting allegorical scenes from the legend. Each scene represents a chivalric virtue; the largest, between the two doors, is titled "Admission of Sir Tristram to the Round Table" and illustrates the virtue of Hospitality. Seven were originally commissioned but the remaining two paintings were not carried out due to the artist's death, and on the wallpapered panels flanking the Chair of State hang oil portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Other decorations in the room are also inspired by the Arthurian legend, namely a series of 18 bas-reliefs beneath the paintings, carved in oak by Henry Hugh Armstead, and the frieze running below the ceiling, which displays the attributed coats of arms of the Knights of the Round Table. The ceiling itself is decorated with heraldic badges, as is the border of the wooden floor—which, as can be seen in the adjacent image, is left exposed by the carpeting.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Robing Room was also briefly used as the House of Lords' meeting chamber while the House of Lords Chamber was occupied by the House of Commons, whose chamber had been destroyed by the Blitz in 1941.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Immediately north of the Robing Room is the Royal Gallery. At , it is one of the largest rooms in the Palace. Its main purpose is to serve as the stage of the royal procession at State Openings of Parliament, which the audience watch from temporary tiered seating on both sides of the route. It has also been used on occasion by visiting statesmen from abroad when addressing both Houses of Parliament, as well as for receptions in honour of foreign dignitaries, and more regularly for the Lord Chancellor's Breakfast; in the past it was the theatre of several trials of peers by the House of Lords. Documents from the Parliamentary Archives are on display in the Royal Gallery (including a facsimile of Charles I's death warrant), and the tables and seating offer a workspace for members of the Lords that is conveniently close to their debating chamber.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The decorative scheme of the Royal Gallery was meant to display important moments in British military history, and the walls are decorated by two large paintings by Daniel Maclise, each measuring : "The Death of Nelson" (depicting Lord Nelson's demise at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805) and "The Meeting of Wellington and Blücher after the Battle of Waterloo" (showing the Duke of Wellington meeting Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815). The murals deteriorated rapidly after their completion due to a range of factors, most importantly atmospheric pollution, and today they are almost monochrome, although a finished study of "The Death of Nelson" in better condition hangs in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. The rest of the planned frescos were cancelled, and the walls are filled with portraits of kings and queens from George I onwards. Another decorative element with military undertones are the eight statues of gilded Caen stone that flank the three doorways and the bay window of the Gallery, sculpted by John Birnie Philip. Each depicts a monarch during whose reign a key battle or war took place. They are: Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror; Richard I and Edward III; Henry V and Elizabeth I; William III and Anne. The panelled ceiling, above the floor, features Tudor roses and lions, and the stained-glass windows show the coats of arms of the Kings of England and Scotland.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Prince's Chamber is a small anteroom between the Royal Gallery and the Lords Chamber, named after the room adjoining the Parliament Chamber in the Old Palace of Westminster. Thanks to its location, it is a place where members of the Lords meet to discuss business of the House. Several doors lead out of the room, to the division lobbies of the House of Lords and to a number of important offices.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The theme of the Prince's Chamber is Tudor history, and 28 oil portraits painted on panels around the room depict members of the Tudor dynasty. They are the work of Richard Burchett and his pupils, and their creation entailed extensive research, which contributed to the founding of the National Portrait Gallery in 1856. 12 bronze bas-reliefs are set into the wall below the portraits, executed by William Theed in 1855–1857. Scenes included are "The Field of the Cloth of Gold", "The Escape of Mary, Queen of Scots" and "Raleigh Spreading His Cloak As a Carpet for the Queen". Above the portraits, at window level, there are compartments intended for copies of six of the ten Armada tapestries, which hung in the chamber of the House of Lords until their destruction in the 1834 fire and depicted the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The project was put on hold in 1861 (by which time only one painting had been completed), and was not revived until 2007; , all six paintings have been finished and are on display in the Royal Gallery. They are scheduled to be fixed in the Prince's Chamber in the following months.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The room also contains a statue of Queen Victoria, seated on a throne (itself placed on a pedestal) and holding a sceptre and a laurel crown, which show that she both governs and rules. This figure is flanked by allegorical statues of Justice and Clemency—the former with a bare sword and an inflexible expression and the latter showing sympathy and offering an olive branch. The sculptural ensemble, made of white marble and carved by John Gibson in 1855, reaches in height; its size has long been considered out of proportion with the fittings of the Prince's Chamber, and the flanking statues ended up in storage between 1955 and 1976. However, the size and location of the group, in the archway opposite the doors to the Royal Gallery (which are removed before State Openings of Parliament to facilitate the royal procession), indicate that it was meant to be seen from a distance, and to symbolically remind the monarch of their royal duties as they would walk down the Royal Gallery on their way to deliver their speech.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Chamber of the House of Lords is located in the southern part of the Palace of Westminster. The lavishly decorated room measures . The benches in the Chamber, as well as other furnishings in the Lords' side of the Palace, are coloured red. The upper part of the Chamber is decorated by stained glass windows and by six allegorical frescoes representing religion, chivalry and law.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: At the south end of the Chamber are the ornate gold Canopy and Throne; although the Sovereign may theoretically occupy the Throne during any sitting, he or she attends only the State Opening of Parliament. Other members of the Royal Family who attend the State Opening use Chairs of State next to the Throne, and peers' sons are always entitled to sit on the steps of the Throne. In front of the Throne is the Woolsack, an armless red cushion stuffed with wool, representing the historical importance of the wool trade, and used by the officer presiding over the House (the Lord Speaker since 2006, but historically the Lord Chancellor or a deputy). The House's mace, which represents royal authority, is placed on the back of the Woolsack. In front of the Woolsack is the Judges' Woolsack, a larger red cushion that used to be occupied during the State Opening by the Law Lords (who were members of the House of Lords), and prospectively by the Supreme Court Justices and other Judges (whether or not members), to represent the Judicial Branch of Government. The Table of the House, at which the clerks sit, is in front.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Members of the House occupy red benches on three sides of the Chamber. The benches on the Lord Speaker's right form the Spiritual Side and those to his left form the Temporal Side. The Lords Spiritual (archbishops and bishops of the established Church of England) all occupy the Spiritual Side. The Lords Temporal (nobles) sit according to party affiliation: members of the Government party sit on the Spiritual Side, while those of the Opposition sit on the Temporal Side. Some peers, who have no party affiliation, sit on the benches in the middle of the House opposite the Woolsack; they are accordingly known as crossbenchers.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: The Lords Chamber is the site of nationally televised ceremonies, the most important of which is the State Opening of Parliament, which is held formally to open each annual parliamentary session, either after a General Election or in the autumn. At this occasion every constitutional element of the government is represented: the Crown (both literally, and figuratively in the person of the Sovereign), The Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and The Commons, (who together form the Legislature), the Judiciary (although no judges are members of either House of Parliament), and the Executive (both Government Ministers, and ceremonial military units in attendance on the Sovereign); and a large number of guests are invited to attend in the large Royal Gallery immediately outside the Chamber. The Sovereign, seated on the Throne, delivers the Speech from the Throne, outlining the Government's programme for the year and legislative agenda for the forthcoming parliamentary session. The Commons may not enter the Lords' debating floor; instead, they watch the proceedings from beyond the Bar of the House, just inside the door. A small purely formal ceremony is held to end each parliamentary session, when the Sovereign is merely represented by a group of Lords Commissioners.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Following the Blitz, which destroyed the chamber of the House of Commons, the Lords' chamber was occupied by the Commons. The Lords temporarily used the Robing Room during the reconstruction. The State Opening Of Parliament was carried out as normal, with the new rooms being used. Evidence can still be seen of this today, with damage clearly visible on one of the doors where they were struck by Black Rod.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Directly north of the Lords Chamber lies the Peers' Lobby, an antechamber where Lords can informally discuss or negotiate matters during sittings of the House, as well as collect messages from the doorkeepers, who control access to the Chamber. The Lobby is a square room measuring on each side and in height, and one of its main features is the floor centrepiece, a radiant Tudor rose made of Derbyshire marbles and set within an octagon of engraved brass plates. The rest of the floor is paved with encaustic tiles featuring heraldic designs and Latin mottoes. The walls are faced with white stone and each is pierced by a doorway; above the arches are displayed arms representing the six royal dynasties which ruled England until Queen Victoria's reign (Saxon, Norman, Plantagenet, Tudor, Stuart and Hanoverian), and between them there are windows stained with the arms of the early aristocratic families of England.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: Of the doorways, the one to the south—which leads into the Lords Chamber—is the most magnificent, and sports much gilding and decoration, including the full royal arms. It is enclosed by the Brass Gates, a pair of elaborately pierced and studded doors together weighing 1.5 tonnes. The side doors, which feature clocks, open into corridors: to the east extends the Law Lords Corridor, which leads to the libraries, and nearby to the west lies the Moses Room, used for Grand Committees.


title: Palace of Westminster

text: To the north is the vaulted Peers' Corridor, which is decorated with eight murals by Charles West Cope depicting historical scenes from the period around the English Civil War. The frescoes were executed between 1856 and 1866, and each scene was "specifically chosen to depict the struggles through which national liberties were won". Examples include "Speaker Lenthall Asserting the Privileges of the Commons Against Charles I when the Attempt was Made to Seize the Five Members", representing resistance against absolute rule, and "The Embarkation of the Pilgrim Fathers for New England", which illustrates the principle of freedom of worship.