Entrance and staircase

Over the entrance porch are placed the arms of Speaker Denison, the first occupant of this House, and below them, in Latin, ‘God save the Queen’. The Speaker’s presence is indicated by the two upright maces on either side of the front door.

Inside this porch, which Denison had asked for to exclude ‘the rush of cold air’ into the house, there is stained glass - mostly of the national emblems and the Tudor portcullis which during the 19th century had become the symbol of the Houses of Parliament.

The splendid red dragons are also a reminder that the decoration is derived from the early Tudor period, and that Henry VII claimed descent from King Cadwallader of Wales.

The stained glass throughout the building was made by John Hardman of Birmingham. He was a close friend and colleague of A W Pugin, who had persuaded him to manufacture stained glass to his designs. After Pugin’s death the business continued with John Hardman Powell, Pugin’s son-in-law, as chief designer.