The New International Encyclopædia/Whitehall

WHITEHALL. A former palace in London, once the residence of Hubert de Burgh. In the middle of the thirteenth century it was the London residence of the archbishops of York, and was known as York Place. After the death of Wolsey it became Crown property, and was called Whitehall. Henry VIII. enlarged the palace and James I. planned to replace it after a fire in 1615 from designs by Inigo Jones, but only the banqueting hall was built, and is the only existing portion of the palace, the remainder having been destroyed by the fires of 1691 and 1697. The hall, a fine specimen of Palladian architecture, 111 feet in length and 55½ feet in breadth and height, has ceiling paintings by Rubens representing the apotheosis of James I. and scenes from the career of Charles I. Whitehall was the scene of Wolsey's disgrace, Henry VIII.'s death, the execution of Charles I., who was led to the scaffold from the banqueting hall, and the deaths of Cromwell and Charles II. The hall was converted by George I. into a royal chapel. The street leading from Trafalgar Square to Westminster, in which the palace stood, is known as Whitehall. It contains a number of public buildings, including the Horse Guards, Treasury, and new public offices.