Westminster Abbey

The Gothic abbey church where English and British monarchs are crowned, fronted by twin west towers.

Benedictine monks lived on this site from around the 10th century, and King Edward the Confessor built a great church here, which was consecrated in 1065. Most of the church you can see today was begun by King Henry III in 1245. More than 3,300 people are buried or remembered inside, including 18 monarchs, famous scientists and poets. Together with the Palace of Westminster and St Margaret's Church next door, the abbey became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

History

Edward the Confessor's church was consecrated only about a week before he died, and he was buried in it in 1066. On 6 July 1245 Henry III began replacing it with a grander church in the new Gothic style, with pointed arches and tall windows. In the early 1500s a splendid chapel was added for Henry VII; a writer of the time called it a wonder of the world. Henry VIII closed the monastery in 1540, and in 1560 Elizabeth I made the abbey a "Royal Peculiar", meaning it answers directly to the monarch rather than to a bishop. The two west towers came last, in the 1740s, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James.

Crowns, weddings and graves

Almost every coronation since 1066 has taken place here. In 1296 King Edward I brought the Stone of Scone, used for crowning Scottish kings, to England and had the wooden Coronation Chair made to hold it. The abbey has also hosted at least 16 royal weddings since 1100. Eighteen monarchs are buried here, and the scientist Isaac Newton has a grand monument near the choir. Near the west door lies the Unknown Warrior, a British soldier of the First World War whose name nobody knows. He was buried on 11 November 1920 in earth brought from France.

On the globe

The model shows the Gothic abbey church in London with its twin west towers at the front. Zoom in to compare the towers with the long body of the church behind them.