Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is a soaring Gothic masterpiece beside the Houses of Parliament, the coronation church of English and British monarchs since 1066, with the coronations of 40 monarchs held here from William the Conqueror to Charles III, and many married and buried. A UNESCO site, it is a national shrine crowded with the tombs and memorials of kings and queens, poets in Poets' Corner, statesmen and scientists including Newton and Darwin, a thousand years of history under one roof.

History

Legends credit its founding to King Sæberht of Essex or a vision of Saint Peter seen by a Thames fisherman, but the abbey is generally dated to about 959, when Dunstan and King Edgar settled Benedictine monks on Thorney Island. Between 1042 and 1052 Edward the Confessor began rebuilding it as his burial church, the first church in England on a cruciform plan, consecrated on 28 December 1065, a week before his death, and William the Conqueror's is the first documented coronation here. Henry III began the present church in 1245, the monastery was dissolved in 1559 and Elizabeth I made it a royal peculiar, answerable to the sovereign, and since 1066 it has seen the coronations of 40 monarchs; with the Palace of Westminster and St Margaret's Church it became a World Heritage Site in 1987 (Wikipedia, Westminster Abbey).

The main sights

• The coronation setting - the church where monarchs are crowned.
• Poets' Corner - the memorials to the great writers of England.
• The royal tombs - the resting places of kings and queens.
• The Lady Chapel - the fan-vaulted chapel of Henry VII.

When to go

Year-round; a fully indoor sight. It closes to visitors on Sundays and for services and special events, so check ahead and book a timed ticket; go early to avoid the biggest crowds.

What to expect

It is a working church, so it closes to sightseers on Sundays and for services and state events; check before going. It is busy and ticketed, and photography is often restricted inside. It is densely packed with tombs and memorials, rewarding an audio guide to make sense of it all.

Nearby

The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben are next door; St James's Park and Buckingham Palace are a walk away.

Key facts