EARLY MEETING PLACES
At first, the Commons met in a variety of places - 
including Westminster Hall and the refectory and Chapter 
House of Westminster Abbey. Their first permanent 
home, to which they moved after the death of Henry VIII 
in 1547, was St Stephen's Chapel. Here they remained 
until the Chapel was burnt down in the Great Fire of 1834. 

During the construction of the new palace, the Commons 
moved into the Lords' chamber. When they returned to their 
new House in 1850, they promptly complained that the design 
(built largely to their own specification) was unsuitable - and moved out until 1852, while the ceiling was lowered and division lobbies changed. Architect Charles Barry was so disgusted by this behaviour that he henceforth refused to go into the chamber unless forced to do so.