Commons Arch after the Bomb

This painting depicts the arch leading into the House of Commons Chamber from the Members Lobby that was obliterated by the bombing of the Houses of Parliament in May 1941. On that evening there was twelve incidents recorded round the building and the Commons chamber was entirely destroyed by a fire, which spread from the Lobby area and caused the ceiling to collapse. This archway, which would be later known as the Churchill Arch, was built by architect Charles Barry following the 1834 fire as part of the new House of Commons chamber opened in 1850. The original interior stone-work which would be recycled for the new archway was Caen stone from France.