Westminster Abbey
Gothic abbey church and the coronation church of English and British monarchs since 1066.
Westminster Abbey, formally the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, has been the coronation church of English and British monarchs since 1066 and is the burial place of many kings and queens. A Benedictine monastery stood here by the 10th century; Edward the Confessor built a great Romanesque church in the 1040s, and Henry III began the present Gothic building in 1245.
Today it is a royal peculiar of the Church of England and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster and St Margaret's Church. Visitors can see the Coronation Chair, the Shrine of St Edward, the fan-vaulted Henry VII Lady Chapel, Poets' Corner and the Grave of the Unknown Warrior, as well as the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries high in the triforium.
Highlights
- Coronation Chair and Shrine of St Edward the Confessor
- Henry VII Lady Chapel with its fan vaulting
- Poets' Corner
- The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries