Parliament is currently marking the 75th anniversary of the rebuilding of the House of Commons Chamber.
This occasion celebrates a powerful moment of resilience — when, after being bombed during the Second World War, the Chamber was reborn as a symbol of democracy’s strength and power to endure and resist.
The Palace of Westminster on the day before the State Opening of Parliament for the new administration elected on July 6, 2024.
We here at Soulton Hall feel a special connection to this anniversary.
When the great task of reconstruction began, a specific kind of timber was needed. The wood chosen for this vital national project came, in part, from the oaks of Soulton.
It is a wonderful, humble thought that a piece of our local landscape now stands in the very heart of the UK’s parliamentary life.
Foresters in the AS YOU LIKE IT wood harvesting willows gown by the “murmuring stream”, to be made into elite cricket bats
The wood that grew in our quiet corner — the same ground linked to the inspiring, gentle themes of Shakespeare’s As You Like It — now forms the backdrop for the nation’s debates.
Early BLuebells in Soulton Wood, the AS YOU LIKE IT wood
