Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey stands beside Parliament Square in the City of Westminster, opposite the Houses of Parliament. A Benedictine monastery existed here by the 10th century, and King Edward the Confessor built a large Romanesque church on the site, consecrated in 1065, shortly before his death.

Every coronation of an English and later British monarch since William the Conqueror in 1066 has taken place in the abbey, most recently that of King Charles III on 6 May 2023. Henry III began rebuilding the church in the Gothic style in 1245, partly as a shrine to Edward the Confessor, and much of the present building dates from his reign and the following centuries. The western towers were added in the 18th century to designs by Nicholas Hawksmoor.

The abbey is a Royal Peculiar, under the direct authority of the monarch rather than a bishop. More than 3,300 people are buried or commemorated here, including many kings and queens. Highlights include the shrine of Edward the Confessor, the Coronation Chair made around 1300, the fan vaulted Lady Chapel of Henry VII, Poets' Corner with memorials to Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens, and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries, high in the triforium, opened in 2018.

The abbey has hosted many royal weddings and funerals, and together with the Palace of Westminster and St Margaret's Church it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Sightseeing tickets are needed for general visits and are cheaper online, while services are free to attend. The abbey is normally closed to sightseers on Sundays, when it is open only for worship, and opening times change for events. Westminster and St James's Park Underground stations are close by.

Adult general admission costs £32, with £29 for visitors aged 65 and over and for students, £14 for children aged 6 to 17 and free entry for under-sixes. Tickets bought on the abbey's own website can be turned into an annual pass at no extra cost. Tickets for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries can be bought on arrival.

Some details reward a slower look. The Coronation Chair was made for Edward I in 1296 to hold the Stone of Scone, and a corner of it was blown off by a suffragette bomb in 1914. Henry VII's Lady Chapel was begun in 1503 and its main structure finished by 1509. In front of the High Altar lies the Cosmati pavement, a medieval inlaid floor commissioned by Henry III and restored from 2008. The abbey has hosted 40 coronations, at least 16 royal weddings since 1100 and the burials of 18 monarchs.