Victoria Tower

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Victoria Tower
Victoria Tower is at the House of Lords end of the Palace of Westminster
Building
Type	Tower
Architectural Style	Perpendicular Gothic
Location	London, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°29′57.5″N 00°07′29.1″W / 51.499306, -0.12475 (Palace of Westminster)Coordinates: 51°29′57.5″N 00°07′29.1″W / 51.499306, -0.12475 (Palace of Westminster)
Construction
Completed	1855
Height	323 feet (98 m)
Design Team
Architect	Charles Barry

This article is about Victoria Tower in London.
For other places named "Victoria Tower" see Victoria Tower (disambiguation).

Victoria Tower is the square tower at the south end of the Palace of Westminster in London. At 323 feet (98 m), it is slightly taller than the more famous Clock Tower at the north end of the Palace (316 feet (96 m)). It houses the Parliamentary Archives in archive conditions meeting the BS 5454 standard.

The main entrance at the base of the tower is the Sovereign's Entrance, through which the Monarch passes at the State Opening of Parliament. On top of the Victoria Tower is an iron flagstaff, from which the Union Flag is flown (unless the Sovereign is present in the Palace, when it is replaced by the Royal Standard).

[edit] History

The Victoria Tower was purpose-built to house records after the fire of October 22, 1834 which destroyed the Palace of Westminster and almost all of the House of Commons' records. The records of the House of Lords survived the conflagration because they were at the time stored in the Jewel Tower, which was at a distance from the main building, and still stands across the road from the Victoria Tower.

Charles Barry's design for the new Palace of Westminster featured a tower over the Sovereign’s Entrance, every floor of which incorporated record storage. When the wrought iron flagstaff was erected in 1855 the Tower became the tallest square tower in the world, at 323 feet (98 m) high to the base of the flagstaff, and a further 72 feet (22 m) to the top of the Crown at its summit.