2-914-064 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The New Houses of Parliament - Ventilating Shaft, River Front, 1854. Palace of Westminster, London. '...the New Louvre, or Ventilating Shaft, just completed for the exit of the vitiated air and smoke from the Libraries, and the whole of the Committee-rooms...The lantern is quadrangular in form, divided into three stages...At each angle, and in the centre of the flat side, is a light buttress, surmounted by crocketed finials...The top is carried into the air by a slight shaft, finished by a ball-cross. At the base of this shaft is a cluster of four smaller flying buttresses. The total height is about 68 feet...It might be expected that a contrivance of this kind would be an unsightly object - particularly in iron - of which material so little is done to please the taste; but, in this case, this turret, with its light crocketed buttresses, forms a pleasing addition to the river front'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.