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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Whitehall
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(London SW1) Street running north from the Houses of Parliament to Trafalgar Square. The *Cenotaph stands in it, and *Downing Street leads off to the left. Most of the buildings are government offices, so Whitehall is often used as a general term for the central administration.
The name was that of the palace built here by *Henry VIII as his chief residence, in place of the earlier *Palace of Westminster just to the south. *James I planned to rebuild it entirely, but of the ambitious scheme drawn up for him by Inigo *Jones only the *Banqueting House was built; it was also the only structure to survive the fire which destroyed the palace in 1698.
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