APPLICATIONS OF TIMBER. 187 



of this are of course now obliterated, and the exist- 

 ing hall is left without even an intended rival. It is 

 two hundred and seventy-five feet long, and seventy- 

 four feet wide; and, though the original proportions 

 have been a little deranged by the raising of the floor, 

 which became necessary,as the vast accumulation of 

 ships in the river downwards, probably the deposi- 

 tion of silt in the bed of the river, and certainly the 

 erection of London Bridge, (about one hundred 

 years afterwards,) caused the old floor to be over- 

 flowed during floods,^-it is still a graceful structure. 

 The roof of Westminster-hall is formed of chesnut, 

 and does not appear to be in the least decayed. This 

 great hall was, however, enlarged, and had its pre- 

 sent roof constructed, in the time of Richard II., 

 who, in the profusion of that expenditure which led 

 to Wat Tyler's insurrection, is reported to have 

 feasted ten thousand guests under this roof. West- 

 minster-hall is now set apart for the most solemn 

 state purposes, such as the trial of persons im- 

 peached by the Commons; and banquets at th'e 

 coronations of kings. 



;The Parliament-house in Edinburgh, though a 

 much smaller and more recent structure than West- 

 minster-hall, has also a fine roof of the ancient de- 

 scription. The Parliament-house is one hundred 

 and twenty-two feet in length, and forty-nine in 

 breadth. The erection of it was completed in the 

 year 1640; it was built at an expense of 1600/., 

 by the corporation of Edinburgh; and is used partly 

 as an ante-room to the courts of justice, and partly 

 as a place of resort for the inhabitants. The 

 trusses and roof, generally speaking, are of oak; 

 they have not the massive grandeur of those in 

 Westminster-hall, and .the effect is injudiciously 

 broken by gilding. 



