The Hall

Whitehall, that is.

Whitehall is a road, but it takes its name from the Palace of Whitehall. The palace took up most of this area, but it will come as no surprise that it was largely destroyed in 1698 by . . . that's right, fire.

The Palace of Whitehall was the main residence of English monarchs in London from 1530-1698 and before the FIRE, it was the largest palace in Europe.

These buildings are mostly government offices housing such things as Ministry of Defence (spelling correct), Horse Guards, HM Treasury, 10 Downing Street (you have to turn a corner, but it's right there).

Horse Guards

We saw this big crowd gathered so naturally we went to see what was going on. Whatever it was apparently ended in our stroll across this street because this crowd scattered as we approached.

The Horse Guards have an elaborate schedule of being posted outside, relieved every hour, changing of the guard, etc. Only later did I learn that thirty years ago, Queen Victoria came through the entrance and found nobody on guard so she ordered the Household Cavalry (that's really what it's called) to parade at 4 pm every day for a 100 years. It's been over 30 years and they are still doing it.

I believe that's what we missed.

When you walk through those arches in the photo above you come out into this huge area. The building in the picture above is on one side.

And this building is on the other. The open area is called Horse Guards Parade. It's huge! The area has been used for parades and other ceremonies since the 17th century and was once the Headquarters of the British Army.