Westminster Hall forms a part of the present Houses of Parliament, and it is the building seen most prominently from Westminster Abbey across the way. It is the most ancient part of the Parliament buildings, having been first built by William II in 1097, and the present hall by Richard II in 1394– 1402. From the thirteenth century until 1882 the chief English law courts sat here, at first in the hall itself and later in separate buildings. It is now normally empty except when used for the lying-in-state of monarchs and eminent statesmen (among the latter Winston Churchill in 1965). It is a great architectural treasure, one of the largest and finest medieval timber-roofed buildings in Europe. Here in Westminster Hall Sir Thomas More was condemned to death in 1535, Guy Fawkes in 1603 and Charles I in 1649. Here, in 1653, Oliver Cromwell was installed as Lord Protector. Beneath is St Stephen’s Crypt, now known as St Mary Undercroft. Its beautiful medieval groined vaulting and ancient bosses have been restored and the crypt richly redecorated. While not open to the public it is still occasionally used for christenings and marriages in the families of members of Parliament.