Tally stick
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A tally stick was an ancient memory aid used to record and document numbers, quantities, and messages. Tally sticks first appear as animal bones carved with notches during the Upper Palaeolithic; a no
Medieval English split tally stick (front and reverse view). The stick is notched and inscribed to record a debt owed to the rural dean of Preston Candover, Hampshire, of a tithe of 20d each on 32 sheep, amounting to a total sum of £2 13s. 4d.
Single and split tallies from the Swiss Alps, 18th to early 20th century (Swiss Alpine Museum)
Entrance gates to the UK National Archives, Kew, from Ruskin Avenue. The notched vertical elements were inspired by medieval tally sticks.
Burning of Parliament
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The Palace of Westminster, the medieval royal palace used as the home of the British parliament, was largely destroyed by fire on 16 October 1834. The blaze was caused by the burning of small wooden t
Tally stick
…financial records were ordered to be burned in two furnaces in the Houses of Parliament. The resulting fire set the chimney ablaze and then spread until most of the building was destroyed. This event was described by Charles Dickens in an 1855 article on administrative reform. Tally sticks feature in the design of the entrance gates to…
The Palace of Westminster on fire, October 1834, with Old Palace Yard in foreground
The House of Commons in 1808
The House of Lords, c. 1809