St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster: Visual and Political Culture, 1292-1941

This three-year project is a collaboration between the University of York and the Institute of Historical Research, in partnership with the Houses of Parliament and supported by the History of Parliament Trust. St Stephen's Chapel, at the heart of the Palace of Westminster, is one of the most extraordinary examples of continuity in British public life. Founded by Edward I and sumptuously decorated by Edward III, St Stephen's was representative of the alliance between monarchy and church which governed later medieval England. With the arrival of the Reformation, its college of dean and canons became redundant and St Stephen's entered a dramatic new phase in its existence, as the first permanent meeting place of the House of Commons. For nearly three hundred years, MPs met in a building that had once been a chapel, with opposing benches in place of choir-stalls and the Speaker's chair where the altar had once been. When the Commons' Chamber was gutted in the devastating fire of 1834, the space was re-named St Stephen's Hall and assigned another new role as the entry-way to the Gothic Revival palace built by Barry and Pugin, the form in which it survives to this day. By simultaneously reconstructing the history, art and architecture of St Stephen's Chapel, Hall and Cloister, this project helps us to understand one of the great national stories: the transition from sacred royal power to parliamentary democracy.

Our project brings together a team of senior and early career historians and art historians, with different ways of working and across a chronology of seven centuries, to address a set of questions which no single discipline can comprehend. What role has St Stephen's played in British political culture, and what is its modern legacy? What contribution has St Stephen's made to the development of art and architecture, and in what ways has its fabric constructed or reflected its changing role in national life? Our multi-disciplinary approach is embedded in the structure of the project, which pairs historians and art historians in a series of complementary research topics in order to produce the fullest possible biography of this magnificent building. Topics investigated include the medieval college and canons of St Stephen's; the conversion from royal collegiate chapel to Commons' Chamber; Christopher Wren's refurbishment of St Stephen's, and antiquarian efforts to protect its architectural heritage; and the post-1834 Hall and surviving Undercroft chapel as a recreation of the splendour of the middle ages, a unique site of national memory.

Why has the full span of this story never been told? Previous research on St Stephen's has been disjointed and surprisingly scant, presented in terms that limit its impact beyond the immediate academic specialism. Public appreciation is hindered by the difficulty in visualising a building with a complex history, and by problems of access to the stunning Cloister and Undercroft, both still in daily use; the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, on which St Stephen's was modelled, is far more visible and correspondingly better known. Our project tackles this deficit in scholarly and public understanding in three ways: by publishing a series of books, articles and conference papers covering all aspects of the historical, architectural and cultural significance of St Stephen's; by facilitating public access to St Stephen's Hall, Cloister and Undercroft during the 2015 colloquium and 2016 international conference; and through the Virtual St Stephen's strand, a digital reconstruction of the site during the different phases of its evolution, designed by the University of York's Centre for Christianity and Culture and utilising the data generated by the core team of investigators, research fellow and assistants, and PhD student. The resulting online resource, hosted by the Houses of Parliament, will guarantee the academic and public impact of our research far beyond the funded life of this project.

Beneficiaries
Beyond the scholarly community, we will communicate the story of this remarkable building, at the heart of political life for 700 years, both to those involved in politics today and to the public, whose history this is. Beneficiaries will include members and staff of the Houses of Parliament, but also visitors to the Palace of Westminster. They numbered 703,255 in 2011, including visitors from Britain, the Commonwealth and the wider world; there were 70,000 schoolchildren. We will reach wider audiences via the worldwide web, and broadcasts on radio and television, making use of established connections with partner institutions. The project is therefore consistent with the aims of Parliament to promote public understanding and participation in British political life, and to foster a better appreciation of the UK's Parliamentary system abroad.

Modes of Impact
The project will generate a new understanding of the architectural development of St Stephen's Chapel in its different manifestations, and of their significance, by means of virtual reconstructions. Through a series of interpretative tools and opportunities for interaction, these will increase understanding of how the layout of the chapel shaped political discourse, by fostering adversarial parliamentary debate, and its contribution to the development of democracy. We will also present the richly documented life stories of the people who worked on or had access to St Stephen's, such as its medieval builders and craftsmen. These could be suitable objects of research for undergraduate or MA dissertations, making this previously invisible body of evidence more publicly available, and contributing to the training of the next generation of historians and art historians.

As a key output, 'Virtual St Stephen's' will be accessible on the web. It will allow navigation of the chapel, Commons' Chamber and St Stephen's Hall (in the mid-14th century, in the late 17th century and in Barry's rebuilding after 1834, respectively), illustrating the three key phases in the building's history (see Technical Appendix). Integrated with the virtual reconstructions will be key images of the surviving fabric (much now dispersed in museums), paintings, prints and documents. Both components are central to the work of imaginative reconstruction that lies at the heart of the project as a whole. With the Houses of Parliament, we will seek further funding to develop learning resources, enhancing delivery of the school curriculum.

The project will enhance experience and enjoyment of a historic place for visitors. Coinciding with the 'Year of Parliament' in 2015, an exhibition will be presented in Westminster Hall (July to September), comprising display boards and examples from the developing Virtual St Stephen's. Coordinated with the exhibition, there will be visits to St Stephen's Hall, the Undercroft chapel and the Cloister (the latter sites currently closed to the public); this will be an occasion to brief the Palace guides. The Undercroft may also be used for concerts, including music written for the medieval college (to be studied in the project PhD on the college). We will work with Parliament's Education Service to make the exhibition, visits, concerts and reconstructions accessible to teachers and school groups.

Legacy
In the medium term, the project will inform an element of the planned refurbishment of the fabric of the Houses of Parliament, enhancing the presentation of this historic building, contributing to the conservation of cultural and political heritage. It will also contribute to decision-making about future public access to the Undercroft and Cloister. Working with English Heritage, we will seek to establish a permanent and sustainable display for the public in the nearby Jewel Tower, utilizing the digital reconstructions and display boards. In these ways, the project will create a lasting legacy for the interpretation of the monument and its histories.