is westminster abbey a tourist attraction

What To See At London’s Westminster Abbey, The Complete Guide

Westminster Abbey is a iconic landmark that’s an absolute must visit attraction in London. It’s the most historic church in the English-speaking world.

Founded by Edward the Confessor, the abbey is a shrine of the British nation and a UNESCO-listed site. The complex has been an abbey, a cathedral, a coronation church, and a royal mausoleum.

This spectacular medieval “royal peculiar” has hosted every coronation from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II and 16 royal weddings. It’s also the burial place of many royals and notables, including feuding Tudor siblings Elizabeth I and Mary.

This Westminster Abbey guide gives you a mini overview of the abbey’s 1,000 year history and tells you everything to see inside. I also give you must know tips for visiting.

Here’s a snapshot glance of what you can see at Westminster Abbey on a visit:

• statesmen aisle
• shrine of Edward the Confessor
• royal tombs
• Henry VIII’s Lady Chapel
• poets corner
• diamond jubilee galleries
• chapter house
• pyx chamber
• coronation throne

You definitely need to pre-book a skip the line ticket in advance to visit the abbey. The lines will be long in high season.

The abbey is also free with the London Pass . But the pass doesn’t give you skip the line access to the abbey.

You may want to book a 2 hour guided tour of the abbey .

This tour gives you a  combined tour of the abbey and the Houses of Parliament . This tour offers a 4 hour Westminster walking tour and abbey tour .

Mini History of Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey has been a place of worship for over 1,000 years. The abbey isn’t a cathedral. It’s techinically a “royal peculiar” – a place of worship that falls under the monarch’s jurisdiction and doesn’t belong to a diocese.

The abbey has the status of a collegiate church. Its official name is the Collegiate Church of Westminster.

In 906, St. Dunstan, the Bishop of England, brought monks from Glastonbury to found a monastery at Westminster. Over 100 years later, in 1042, King Edward the Confessor founded a church on the site.

It was consecrated in 1065. Edward died a few days later.

After his death, Edward’s reputation as a holy and pious man grew. People came to the shrine in pilgrimage, praying for healing.

In 1161, Edward was officially made a saint. Henry III decided to build him a shrine in a more glorious Gothic church.

Construction of Westminster Abbey began in 1245 and continued for a couple centuries. In 1503, Henry VII began to build a new lady chapel, which stands at the far eastern end of the abbey.

In the 16th century, the infamous Henry VIII had fallen out with the pope, who refused to give him an annulment so he could marry Anne Boleyn.

In 1540, Henry VIII broke from the church and launched his own Anglican religion. He dissolved the monasteries and seized their assets to continue funding his castle building ways.

But Henry VIII did, at least, grant the Westminster Abbey cathedral status, thereby sparing it from the looting and destruction other monasteries suffered.

In 1533, Queen Mary took over the crown from her father Henry VIII. As a devout Catholic, she changed the abbey’s status back to a monastery.

Five years later, her sister Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne and reversed Mary’s orders. The abbey became a collegiate church.

Architecturally, the next major milestone didn’t come in 1745. This is when the two west towers were built according to the design of a Christopher Wren pupil. In the Victorian era, the triple portico was built and the rose window redesigned.

In 1995, the exterior stonework was cleaned and restored. In 1998, new statues were added to the Great West Door, including ten 20th century martyrs. You can even see Martin Luther King Jr.

In 2018, the Queen’s Jubilee Galleries were opened in the Triforum. The galleries display the abbey treasures and offer great views down over the nave.

The Coronation Church

39 monarchs have been crowned in Westminster Abbey, beginning with England’s first king William the Conqueror.

In fact, Henry III specifically built the abbey as a coronation church. The long transepts allow plenty of seating for the glitterati.

The coronation ceremony follows a procedure that’s largely unchanged over time. The monarch is presented to the people by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Shouts of “God save the King or Queen” ring out from the grandstands.

The monarch signs an oath to govern properly. While sitting in the Coronation Chair, he or she is anointed with holy oil, given the symbols of monarchy, and crowned. Finally, the monarch is moved to the throne where he or she receives the homage of the subjects.

Elizabeth II’s coronation was the first one shown on live TV.

Guide To Westminster Abbey: What To See

Here are the must see highlights of the interior of the Abbey.

I’ve described them roughly in the order you’ll encounter them if you follow the trail on the map above.

1. Entrance

You enter the abbey via the door at the north transept. Your first impression is of a soaring vaulted space.

The history starts the second you walk in the door. You’ll see important figures from British history in the “Statesmen Aisle.”

There are larger than life statues honoring the leading Prime Ministers from the 18th and 19th centuries, including Viscount Patterson, Robert Peel, and Benjamin Disraeli.

The tableaux suggests a strong link between the abbey and the British government.

The largest memorial in this area is dedicated to Prime Minister William Pitt. He is buried nearby with his son William Pitt the Younger. There is a plaque honoring the younger near the west door.

The nave is the central part of the church intended to hold the congregation. The abbey’s is a classic English nave.

Like other parts of the cathedral, it also honors important men and women.

Set against the west facade facing the nave is the magnificent monument to Sir Issac Newton. He was a great British philosopher, scientist, and mathematician.

The sculpture reflects Newton’s interests. It features optical and mathematical instruments, books, and a globe showing the signs of the zodiac and constellations. Newton is buried just in front of the monument.

The naturalist and biologist Charles Darwin is buried nearby. In the center of the nave in the west end is a green marble stone commemorating Sir Winston Churchill.

The most famous grave in the abbey that of the Unknown Soldier. It’s surrounded by a border of red poppies. I love that an unknown British soldier should be buried among the kings and queens.

The abbey’s world renowned quire is an intimate space. It’s effectively a church within a church.

The quire is divided from the nave by a elaborate screen designed by Edward Blore in 1834. It was gilded in the 1960s.

The quire was where the monks worshipped. Although not in these stalls, which date from the Victorian era. Today, the choir is occupied by eight regular choral services each work.

4. High Altar

The present High Altar dates from 1867. It was designed by George Gilbert Scott.

In front of the altar is one of the abbey’s most precious possessions, the medieval Cosmati Pavement. It was laid down in 1268 on the order of Henry III.

The tiles are made up of more than 80,000 pieces of onyx, porphyry, and glass set into Purbeck marble. The pavement was cleaned and restored before the wedding of William and Kate.

5. Shrine of Edward The Confessor

The Chapel of St. Edward is the spiritual heart of the abbey. It was here that the first pope visited the abbey.

Edward the Confessor’s remains were moved, or “translated,” many times before landing here. It was said that they were responsible for miracles.

The shrine was the work of Henry III, Edward’s biggest fan. He encrusted it with gold and jewels so that it shone like a beacon in then candlelit church.

Today, the shrine is hidden from view behind grills. You can only get a good look at it on a verger tour. (More on those below in the tips section.)

As he wanted, Henry III’s tomb is right nearby in a Purbeck marble tomb. It’s beautifully decorated with mosaics. Henry’s effigy is supposed to be a real likeness.

6. Henry VII’s Lady Chapel

The most beautiful part of Westminster Abbey is the stunning Henry VII Chapel in the eastern end.

The ancient chapel is the last great masterpiece of English medieval architecture, the crowning glory of the abbey, and the mausoleum for much of England’s royalty.

After its debut, the chapel was grandiosely nicknamed a “wonder of the world.”

The chapel is the work of England’s first Tudor monarch, Henry VII. He was the king who vanquished the York king,  Richard III , in the Battle of Bosworth and seized control of England.

The chapel was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1503. It’s known as the Henry VII Chapel, although technically its name is the Lady Chapel. 

The chapel’s architect is unknown. But historians believe that Robert Janyns, Jr. is the design genius.

Built between 1503-16, Henry VII broke the bank for his new chapel. It’s essentially an ornate homage to and keepsake of the Tudor dynasty. The whole chapel has the festive air of a medieval pageant.

Although built during the Renaissance period, Gothic architecture was still in vogue at the time. So, the chapel was built in the Perpendicular Gothic style . 

This style is more ornate than French Gothic and uses highly decorative tracery effects. The chapel contrasts with the plainer Gothic style of the rest of the abbey.

The chapel’s most striking feature is its ornate high vaulted vaulted ceiling. The column piers splay out into a fan shape. 

There’s elaborate highly decorative tracery everywhere. It obscures the structural system and hanging carved pendants.

The pendants seem to defy gravity. They hang down like stalactites hanging from the roof of a fairy cavern.

The choir stalls were designated for all living Knights of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath . It was established in 1725 and is one of the premiere meritorious orders of the crown.

When a knight became part of the order, he received a stall that was adorned with his crest and coat of arms. You can see Lord Nelson’s stall plate on the south side.

Every four years, new knights are installed in a colorful ceremony. It’s attended by the Great Master, currently the Prince of Wales.

Throughout the chapel, you’ll see the motif of the “Tudor rose.” The rose is a mixture of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster.

The motif was used heavily by Henry VII to emphasize the importance of the Tudor dynasty. It reiterated the legitimacy of his claim to the English throne, which was hotly debated during the  War of the Roses .

7. Royal Tombs : Who Is Buried In Westminster Abbey?

Many monarchs are memorialized with impressive tombs and monumental effigies in Westminster Abbey. Some of them were among the most important works of art from their age.

Times change though. Many recent royal burials are marked only by floor stones.

The royal tombs are mostly in the Henry VII Chapel, though not all. 15 kings and queens are buried in the Henry VII Chapel.

Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York, share a magnificent Renaissance tomb. Their bronze gilt effigies were sculpted by Florentine artist Pietro Torrigiano, who had studied with Michelangelo . It lies behind the altar.

You’ll also find Henry VII’s granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth I. She was the daughter of the infamous Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth’s royal orb symbolizes she was queen of the entire globe.

She’s buried in the chapel along with her half-sister, Mary I. At odds in life, they ironically lay together in death.

Henry VII’s mother, Margaret Beaufort, is also buried in the chapel. She was a rather evil (though ostensibly pious) lady who helped Henry VII secure the throne.

Beaufort likely would have been a CEO in today’s world. She died in 1509, shortly after Henry VIII’s coronation.

King James I is also buried in the vault beneath the monument.

His tomb was only discovered in 1867 when Dean Stanley searched and excavated the royal tombs looking for James’ final resting place, which had gone unrecorded.

Mary Queen of Scots, who Elizabeth I executed for treason, is also buried there. Her tomb is grander than Elizabeth’s.

Having neglected his mother in life, Mary’s son James I commissioned a costly and majestic white marble monument in memory of his mother.

The Stuart monarchs and Hanoverian monarch are also buried there.

Another famous funerary item in the chapel is a white marble urn, which reputedly contains the remains of the “Princes in the Tower,” Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York.

The casket was designed by the architect Christopher Wren.

The princes were the sons of Edward IV, the brother of Richard III. While living in the  Tower of London , the two princes disappeared in 1483.

Their uncle Richard III was subsequently crowned king. The princes’ fate is the greatest true crime cold case in English history, which I’ve  written about at length .

Thanks mostly to posthumous Tudor propaganda, Richard III was accused of murder. In 1674, nearly two centuries later, workmen discovered the bones of two unidentified children in the tower.

It was immediately assumed the bones were those of the two princes. They were placed in the urn in the abbey on the order of Charles II. However, there’s no archeological, historical, or scientific evidence for that assumption. 

You can also find the remains of the boy king Edward VI. He was Henry VIII’s only surviving son with his third wife Jane Seymour.

8. Medieval Paintings

In the south transept, you’ll find some important medieval paintings.

The paintings depict the incredulity of St. Thomas and St. Christopher carrying the baby Jesus.

In 1936, they were discovered behind two monuments during cleaning in the south transept.

The paintings are thought to date from around 1270. They’ve been attributed to Master Walter of Durham, the King’s Painter under Henry III.

8. Poet’s Corner

The Poet’s Corner is also in the south transept. For lovers of English literature, strolling through Poets’ Corner can be a pilgrimage in itself.

This is where men and women of letters have been buried or commemorated for centuries. The tradition began almost by accident.

Geoffrey Chaucer was the first person buried in this part of the Abbey. Not because he was a poet, but because he worked at Westminster Palace next door.

The poet Edmond Spenser wanted to be buried near Chaucer. The precedent was set. The Poets’ Corner was born.

Other famous writers commemorated in Poets’ Corner are William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, Lord Bryon, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Lewis Carroll, CS Lewis, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, and Jane Austen. 

There are even actors like Lawrence Olivier.

As space became more limited in the Poet’s Corner, names of newly honored writers are sometimes placed in stained glass or marble plaques. This is the case for Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, and Christopher Marlow.

9. Painting of Richard II

A 14th century painting of Richard II hangs in the west end of the Abbey. You might miss if you don’t seek it out.

It’s an incredibly important work of art. It was the first portrait of an English sovereign to be painted in his lifetime. It’s one of the best medieval paintings in existence in any country.

The panting is 7 x 3.5 feet, but seems larger.

You can compare the painting to the king’s tomb effigy. His tomb is a double tomb with his Queen Anne of Bohemia. It’s near the shrine of Edward the Confessor.

For a period in the 18th century, a hole appeared on one side of the tomb. Visitors put in their hand, stealing his bones.

11. Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries

You’ll want to pay the extra 5 pounds to climb up to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries in the abbey’s Triforium. A triforium is a gallery above the arches of the nave and within the thickness of an inner wall.

The galleries opened to the public in 2018, after being hidden away for 800 years. They’re accessible from the new Weston Tower, the first addition to the abbey since 1745.

The galleries are in the eastern Triforium, which dates from 1250. The space were initially intended to be used for chapels. But high chapels fell out of fashion. The space was left empty.

The galleries have their own entrance to the right as you enter the abbey near Poet’s Corner. You can buy a ticket when you arrive at the abbey.

The galleries are 52 feet above the ground floor. It’s 100+ steps to the top.

You’ll have beautiful views of the abbey nave from atop. There’s also a lift, if you don’t want to hike up.

Over 300 special exhibits tell the story of the abbey’s 1,000 year history.

You’ll see funeral effigies of the monarchs, rare books, tapestries, crowns, sculptures, swords, and coronation capes. You can even see the marriage license of William and Kate.

One of the most famous objects on display is the Westminster Retable. It was originally designed for Henry III’s high altar in 1269. It’s made of painted and gilded wood and has undergone extensive conservation.

There’s also a remarkable funeral effigy of Henry VII. It was likely modeled on his death mask, yielding an accurate physical representation. It may have been created by Italian artist Pietro Torrigiano.

There’s a massive 9 x 11 feet portrait of Elizabeth II by Ralph Heiman. It shows her on the Cosamati pavement in front of the high altar, on the exact spot where she was crowned in 1953.

Unfortunately, you can’t take pictures in this part of the abbey. The guards are especially vigilant in the area where you look down into the nave.

12. Cloisters

On the southeast side of the abbey as you’re heading out, you’ll find the place where the monks formerly lived, the medieval cloisters. They date from the 13th and 14th century.

The cloisters also housed the monks’ library and were used for recreation.

13. Chapter House

Off the east cloister is a vestibule leading to the Chapter House. This room is one of the largest chapter houses in Britain.

This is where the monks would meet each morning to listen to prayers and get their assigned duties.

The Chapter House was most likely built between 1246-55 on the orders of Henry III. Henry wanted his Chapter House to be “as the rose is the flower of flowers.”

The floor has medieval tiles. The beautiful tiles are some of the finest medieval tiles pavements in England. They were laid as a series of “carpets” running west to east from the entrance.

The designs were stamped via a pattern into clay and then filled with impressions with a lighter colored clay. You can see the coats of arms of Henry III with the three lions of England.

Some rare medieval paintings also survive on the Chapter House walls. They were painted around 1400 in the International Gothic style of art.

These paintings are the best preserved paintings from this era in all of England. They depict scenes from the apocalypse in a series of visions describe by St. John.

In the early 14th century, the crypt below the chapter house was used to store the regalia and royal money chests.

But it was broken into during the reign on Edward I when he was away on campaign. Though to be an inside job, nearly 50 monks were sent off to the Tower of London. They were only exonerated after a long trial.

14. Pyx Chamber

The ancient Pyx Chamber is a room off the southwest corner of the cloisters. It dates from somewhere between 1065-90. It was originally the sacristy for Edward the Confessor’s old church, and is one of the few surviving remnants.

The Pyx Chamber has round arches and massive supporting columns. The chamber has a 13th century tiled floor.

If you walk through the dark rooms, you’ll come to the Little Cloister. This was the monks’ infirmary.

Beyond the Little Cloister is the abbey garden. At 900 years, it’s the oldest garden in England. This was where the monks grew herbs to make medicine. The garden is open to the public on certain days on the week.

10. Coronation Chair

The Coronation Chair is on display just before you leave Westminster Abbey. It’s the oldest piece of furniture in Britain still used for its original purpose.

While coronations have taken place at the Abbey since 1066, the chair has only been used for the last 700 years. The lions around the base were added in 1727.

Originally, it was sumptuously decorated and gilded. But it’s been rather abused over the years, with graffiti carvings and the like.

The chair once held the famous Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny. In 1296, the stone was captured by Edward I as spoils of war, taken to the abbey, and fitted into the wooden chair.

In 1996, the stone was restored to the people of Scotland and moved to Edinburgh Castle. But it will return for the next coronation upon the death of Elizabeth II.

Unfortunately, you can’t get too close to the Coronation Camber, which is behind glass. But that’s understandable given its age and significance.

Practical Guide & Tips For Westminster Abbey

1. should you visit westminster abbey or st. paul’s cathedral.

Ideally, you should visit both of these iconic landmarks on a visit to London. But you may not have time. And they could not be more different. If pressed, I would pick the abbey.

Westminster Abbey is more centrally located in the heart of the city. It’s steeped in history and will appeal to lovers all of things ancient and Gothic.

In addition, if you are interested in royal history, the abbey is where you can pay homage to your favorite king or queen.

St. Paul’s is also a worthy bucket list attraction and Christopher Wren’s defining architectural masterpiece. The Baroque architecture, mosaics, monuments, and the dome itself are all stunning.

One key advantage St. Paul’s has over Westminster Abbey are the viewing galleries in the dome. You have fantastic views of all of London. You can read my complete guide to St. Paul’s Cathedral .

2. Where To Stay Near Westminster Abbey

Want to stay near Westminster Abbey? It’s a good area for sightseeing with many attractions nearby.

The best place to stay is the St. Ermin’s Hotel , a place of sophistication and elegance. You enter through a tree-lined courtyard.

The Guardsman is also a fine choice. It’s a beautiful boutique hotel in heart of London with the feel of a members club. It has a location fit for kings and queens near Buckingham Palace.

Taj 51 Buckingham Gate has five star luxury suites, with restaurants and an in house spa.

3. When To Visit Westminster Abbey

Try to arrive about 20 minutes before opening time at 9:30 am. There may already be a line. But tourist groups will start coming later and the abbey will be even more crowded.

4. How Long To Visit Westminster Abbey

This totally depends on your interest in the individual monuments and effigies. I estimate 90 minutes to 2 hours for most people.

But you could easily spend 3 hours there, if you have a more leisurely schedule and want to read everything.

5. Verger Tours Of Westminster Abbey

Vergers are abbey staff who attend to the cathedral’s important visitors and help the clergy. Verger tours last approximately 90 minutes.

You can only book one at the information desk after your arrival at the abbey. You can’t book them online. They cost an additional £10.

I highly recommend taking one if you can! The vergers are incredibly knowledgable abbey experts. They can take you to places not accessible on a general visit, such as the tomb of Edward the Confessor.

But you need to plan your visit in advance to coincide with the tours. They leave at 11:00 am, 11:30 am, and 2:00 pm.

6. Other Practical Information

Address : 20 Deans Yard London

Hours : Click here for hours. The abbey isn’t open on Sunday.

Ticket Prices :

The standard ticket price for the abbey is £ 25. You have free entry with the London Pass , but cannot enter via the fast trick line.

It’s free to visit the abbey during a service, but you cannot sightsee. An audioguide is free with admission.

Tube Station : Westminster is the closest. Victoria and St. James are the next nearest.

Westminster Abbey App : The abbey has a multimedia guide that you can download in advance on your phone.

Photography : You can take photos for non-commercial use in the abbey, but not in the Queen Galleries.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my guide to Westminster Abbey. You may enjoy these other London travel guides:

• 3 Days in London Itinerary
• 5 Days in London Itinerary
• One Day In Bath Itinerary
• Guide To Free Museums in London
• Guide To the National Gallery of Art
• Harry Potter Places in London
• Guide To the Churchill War Rooms
• Guide To St. Paul’s Cathedral
• Guide To The Wallace Collection
• Tourist Traps To Avoid in London
• Guide To the Tower of London

If you need a guide to Westminster Abbey, pin it for later.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Last Updated on May 2, 2024 by Leslie Livingston

London Travellers

Advising and recommending travel for everyone

12 Authentic Things to see in the stunning Westminster Abbey

Table of Contents

How to make the most of Westminster Abbey in London

When making the most of Westminster Abbey, one of London’s top 10 attractions , make sure you spare at least 1 hour of your visit to the Abbey. If you spend 3 days in London or 4 days in London , that will give you ample time to make the most of the city. Take your time when visiting Westminster Abbey because there’s so many stories that lie behind the tombs, the burials, the memorials and many more.

You’ll be asking yourself “How the hell did they construct abbeys and churches so beautifully? The intricate detail of chiselling stones into small patterns, the way they carved religious crosses and make them identical to one another. The several rows of small, curved lines in an archway above their main doors. “How did they combine multi-coloured glassed windows in different shapes and turn them into picture stories?” All these thoughts ran into my mind. I wasn’t planning on going inside, but I knew the Abbey has been standing tall since 1066. I was curious to know what lies inside the gothic structure.

Facts about Westminster Abbey 

It was rumoured that Saberht, the first Christian king founded a small church near the River Thames. Then, by 785 CE, there were a few monks that lived nearby, it was then enlarged by St. Dunstan of Canterbury in 960. Later in 1065, Edward the Confessor built another site in the church, and King Richard III changed it to Westminster Abbey, and make it look Gothic in 1245, an influence by French architecture. During the Norman colonisation, the nave was designed in the Norman style nave designed in the 1300s by Henry Yevele, an architect of that time. Ever since the 1300s, it has kept its design throughout the Tudor period.

When visiting Westminster Abbey in London, you’ll be going back more than 900 years of British history, exploring , burials, and memorials from the British monarchy, politicians, scientists, writers, and poets. These include Shakespeare, Stephen Hawking, Queen Elizabeth I, King Richard II, Charles Darwin, Sir Isaac Newton, Geoffrey Chaucer and many more. As for the items and the architecture, you can learn about the Nave, the Quire, the ceilings, and windows and many more.

You will also be immersed in one of Britain’s medieval churches, and Gothic buildings such as the vault, which spans to 102 feet high, the tallest vault in England, and they all have three things in common: architecture, history, and the people.

Getting there

Take the District or Jubilee line to Westminster tube station and it will be right in front of you. You will see Big Ben first, and the River Thames and the Southbank area are across the Westminster Bridge.

You can either take a long walk on the Southbank or find 31 Things to do in the Southbank. 

The West End is a few minutes walk from the Southbank area, and Madame Tussauds and Regent’s Park near Camden Town , one of 8 Royal Parks of London is only a short tube ride from Westminster Tube Station.

How to navigate Westminster Abbey 

There are no photos allowed inside so I’d be as descriptive as possible.

The entry ticket is £22 on the door and £21 online. The queue can be long but moved swiftly.

A pair of headphones and an interactive small iPad are given to you as you enter the building. Select any languages you prefer if English isn’t your first language, and you can find a private tour guide. Personally, it’s better to take the pair of headphones and explore the Abbey as you please.

The items in the Abbey are numbered and, on the iPad, select the item number you see in front of you, that way, you know you’ve covered every area of the Abbey. For example, to learn more about King Richard III’s tomb, look at the number of his tomb, find it on the iPad, listen to the audio of why, how, and when he died.

Upon entering Westminster Abbey, I felt grateful and lucky to be surrounding by many tombs, memorials, and statues of famous British people. They have impacted the world and our lives for more than a thousand years and far more than anyone can ever imagine. Many British inventions, scientific, historical, and mathematic discoveries were found by the Brits and it is here, that their tombs lay in front of us.

At the top of the entrance, there are various 20th Century martyrs perfectly carved from stone. It’s as if they’re looking down on us, blessing us as we enter the Abbey.

Inside the Abbey

The first thing I noticed was the many coloured 18th Century-stained glass windows. They were created to make patterns and shapes into human figures, telling stories behind it. At times, sunrays reflect the glass windows providing the Abbey inside with a strip of beautiful rainbows.

The second thing I noticed was the sound of the choir. The rich, yet peaceful hums of the choir vibrates harmoniously like the sound of gentle waves at the beach. To this day, Westminster Abbey is still a place of worship and people coming together. You can also visit the Abbey for free during services, but you won’t be able to join a tour.

The Coronation Chair

This chair has been the most important piece of furniture for coronations in Britain for more than 700 hundred years and was ordered by King Edward I in 1296.

The wooden chair has four gold painted lions as its legs. 90% of the gold vanished from the rest of the chair. Several four-leafed clover shaped holes decorated above the lions. It was thought the clovers were to mark good luck and fortune for whoever sat on this chair. It’s astonishing how detailed the chair has been carved but there are no cushions or pillows attached to the seat. I imagine the hundreds of kings and queens sitting on the chair and the stories it would have told. Read more about the Coronation chair  here .

The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

Surrounded by hundreds of poppies, the polished stoned burial of an Unknown Warrior is seen here. Poppies mark Remembrance Day of the British soldiers who fought in the First and Second World Wars and the nation celebrate it every year in Whitehall.

The gold inscription in capital letters say: “Beneath this stone rest the body of a British Warrior. Unknown by name or rank. Brought from France to lie among. The most illustrious of the land. And buried here on Armistice Day. 11 Nov: 1920, in the presence of. His Majesty King George V. His ministers of State. Thus are commemorated the many. Multitudes who during the Great. War of 1914-1918 gave the most that. Man can give life itself. For God. For King and country. For loved ones home and empire. For the sacred cause of justice and. The freedom of the world. They buried him among the kings because he. Had done good toward God and toward his house.” A strong message indicates he was an important soldier who did a lot for the nation and to respect those who died in the war. Read about the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior here.

Scientists’ Corner

The marble-stoned effigies of past British scientists from the 17th Century to the present are carved and polished into perfection, down to the small detail of robes to the small curls and waves on their hair.

The many faces were carved and shaped to look as if they were important. The angles of the way they turn their heads upright. It was as if their face expressions spoke to me, “I’m important, please remember me for my work.” Descriptions underneath were written in Latin, in which translates into old, aristocratic English “here lies what was mortal of Isaac Newton” along with other Latin written marble slabs. Alongside Isaac Newton, ashes of Stephen Hawking and Charles Darwin are also buried here.

You can join choral services daily here. The Quire has been playing music for more than a thousand years till this day. The gold patterns above the benches were shaped into 21 similarly looking high backed chairs of a throne in front of blue wallpaper; 21 holes shaped into stars and 3 leafed clovers were made at the top. Small identical patterns carved with precision. It’s unimaginable what tools were used to create small shapes within the patterns.

On opposite sides of each other, there are two rows of long benches for the choir boys to sit on. There are several small red lamps placed along the benches, and the lights still on. Small clover shaped patterns carved on the back. The black and white squared marble floor were created to look like a giant diamond shaped chessboard. Read more about the Quire here .

The High Altar and the Cosmati Pavement

The Cosmatis was a Roman family made up of seven members who designed church floors into geometric mosaics. They were also church architects and sculptors working together to design the most beautiful art. The Cosmati Pavement is now here brought into the Abbey.

The small dark shades of red porphyry, green serpentine, white mosaics and different coloured marbles are used to create 4 big circular shapes on each of the 4 sides of a large diamond in the middle. Circles were created using mosaics inside the diamond. 4 figure-of-eights were designed on the 4 edges of the pavement and mosaic rectangles were created between the 4 figure-of-eights. The details and precision shows dedication, patience and talent from the family.

The tombs of medieval kings and queens

Here in Westminster Abbey, you will find various tombs of British kings and queens from as early as the 13th Century. The tombs include King Edward the Confessor and Henry III.

King Edward the Confessor was one of the Anglo-Saxon kings of England. He reigned between 1042 – 1066, and was married to Queen of England Edith of Wessex during the duration of his reign.

What’s fascinating was how the structure and the architecture the tomb had been designed. The tomb is closed and is surrounded by a 2-foot 4×4 golden fence. An altar table covered in a blue and green sheet is placed next to the stoned tomb. 2 tall white candles sits on the table with their silver candle holders and a silver cross.  There are around eight 8-foot-tall candles surrounding the tomb, and the 20-foot-tall tomb was distinguishable to the rest of the simple 2.5 feet high golden tombs of kings’ and queens’ surrounding it. His tomb sits tall in the middle of the Abbey.

The stoned tomb is beautifully decorated by the Cosmati family with different shades of mosaic brown beige diamonds and circles. 6 dome-shaped archways were created along the tomb, and above the 10 feet tomb, sits 2 green building structures on top of each other with several archways built around them.

The way the tomb was designed, it showed King Edward the Confessor was an important figure in the 11th Century. He built the Abbey and was made a Saint healing the community. He was called the “Confessor” because he was a very holy, religious man who’d often go to church to confess his sins. You can read the description of the tombs here .

The tombs of Elizabeth I and Mary I

These two princesses were the daughters of King Henry VIII with his 6 wives. Elizabeth’s mother was Anne Boleyn and Mary’s mother was Katherine of Aragon.

Mary I was in line with the Tudor family and was the Queen of England and Ireland between 1553 – 1558. She was married to Philip of Spain during the duration of her reign.

Elizabeth I was next in line to the throne after Mary I. She was also the Queen of England and Ireland from 1553 – 1603, also the year of her death but Elizabeth was never married. She was the last line of the Tudor house and was known as the Virgin Queen.

The architecture of both their tombs are fascinating. Both Mary and Elizabeth’s white marbled tombs are placed next to each other surrounded by shiny black marbled pillars. It was like as if they were caged animals that needed to be protected. Gold décor complements the top of the marbled ceilings and white lions underneath.

Several small red and blue monarchy house badges surrounds the top of the tombs and a Latin inscription of who lies in the tomb inside could be found at the top. They were both beautifully decorated with white, gold, and black marbles to show power, wealth, and strength in the community.

The location of their tombs were placed privately, and the pathway to their tombs were narrow to control how many people can see them, away from crowds of visitors.

Read about Princess Mary I here .

Read about Princess Elizabeth here.

The Lady Chapel and tomb of Henry VII

This 16th Century Henry VII Chapel is still used to this day for services. As I stepped inside the Lady Chapel, it felt I stepped back in time and couldn’t wait to hear the many stories happening there. When I heard the stories on my interactive guide, I could imagine myself being in the story. The feeling it provokes was completely different reading them on the website because I was physically in the room as the stories were told.

The first thing I noticed when I stepped inside The Lady Chapel were the small complicated geometric shapes above the bright cream ceiling complemented with gold pendants and the intricate dark wooden décor above the seats to the left and right of the chapel. The chapel was grand and tall that you could hear loud whispers from other people talking.

The high ceiling, the many bright multi-coloured banners representing personal identifications of different armies and soldiers as well as the bright atmosphere felt I stepped inside a grand room. It was as if I was at a ball.

The long walk from the entrance to the other side of the chapel felt like I was walking down the aisle at my own wedding. The gigantic multi coloured stained-glass windows depicting pictures and stories were hard to make out from the bottom but shouldn’t be taken for granted. The many martyrs carved at the top of the chapel looked down on us, it felt as if they’re blessing us once again.

Read all about The Lady Chapel here.

Poet’s Corner

Because of my love of classic English Literature, I couldn’t wait to get to Poet’s Corner. When I finally reached this area, I felt like I wanted to kiss the grounds the poets were buried in. Since English has been an international language spoken worldwide to this day, I couldn’t imagine the work British poets played since the 18th – 19th Century and how they’ve have been praised internationally for their work throughout history.

Like Scientists’ Corner, here lies marble-stoned effigies of past British poets from the 19th Century to the present. They were carved and polished into perfection, down to the small detail of robes worn and the small curls and waves on their hair. The only difference is there are many marbled books and scrolls that were created next to the effigies.

Like Scientists’ Corner, the many faces were carved and shaped to look as if they were important. The angles of the way they turn their heads upright, it was as if their face expressions spoke to me, “I’m important, please remember me for my work.” Descriptions underneath were written in Latin, in which translates into old, aristocratic English along with other Latin written marble slabs.

The first thing I noticed as I stepped into Poet’s Corner was the tomb and memorial of Geoffrey Chaucer.

Geoffrey Chaucer has always been my favourite poet. If you’ve read some of his work, I found he uses lyrical and melodic tones to his prose as well as his ability to translate Latin and French into Old English. I also found that he’s one of the many 19th Century poets that has been applauded for his achievements by critics. The wits and charm he uses into his art makes him distinguishable than any other poets out there. Alongside Goeffrey Chaucer, here also lies effigies and memorials of Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Thomas Campbell, and many others. Read more of Poet’s Corner here.

If you’re interested about 18th – 19th century English Literature , read more about it before you visit their memorials and burials from TheBooksList.

The Cloisters

The Cloisters were where a lot of monks meditate and exercise. It was once the busiest part of the Abbey, and this was also a route to get to the monastic buildings.

Like the Lady Chapel, as I walked from one end to the other, I felt I was walking down the aisle of my own wedding. When I walked on the 1000-year-old stony ground, touching the walls, I felt a part of the monk community. I imagine seeing black robes worn by the monks, and I could hear high and low humming noises monks make as they meditate and pray. I could hear the crowd of voices as they exercise together 1000 years ago, and I could imagine the hustle and bustle that went on within the Cloisters.

Although I didn’t see the rest of the cloisters, it should not be forgotten. In addition, the cloister garth is kept well maintained and what you see in pictures is what you see in real life. Read about The Cloisters  here.

The Chapter House and the Pyx Chamber

Because it was so busy, the staff wanted to control the crowds that visited the Abbey and was directed to the exit. I didn’t get the chance to see The Chapter House and Pyx Chamber but, in the future, I would love to visit Westminster Abbey again to finish my tour.

Read about Chapter House and the Pyx Chamber on their website. There’s also lots of advice to take before you go there.

The Chapter House was the eleventh item on the list. It was a meeting place where the monks gathered with the abbot to ‘hold chapter’: to pray, read from the rule of St Benedict, discuss the day’s business and at what time the abbot decides on punishments.

The twelfth and final item was the Pyx Chamber dating back to 1070. The Chamber was used for royal treasuries in the 13th Century and used for church vestments.

  Westminster Abbey architecture

I can’t stop here without talking about the architecture, and it should be the second thing to focus on. I couldn’t take my eyes off them for one second. I learned not only about the tombs of kings, queens, poets, scientists, and politicians but a lot about the architecture itself.

When I stepped inside, the first thing I did was look up to the ceiling. It rose to more than 100 feet high. The ceiling in the Nave had different geometric shapes, patterns and colours, something quite common in the 12th Century. Gothic architecture was the typical style of the 12th Century.

The Nave is the central part of the Abbey and it’s where most of the burials are found. I’ve never seen the symmetry and geometric detail like the ceiling above the Nave before. I was in awe, since there were around five-diamond shaped patterns with gold patterns complementing the geometry. Since travelling around Europe, I’ve seen architectural designs like no other, but I skipped British architecture because I took it for granted. Living here for more than 20 years, I didn’t think I needed to. Now was the right time to delve into British architecture.

My favourite architecture was the fan vaulted roof in the Lady Chapel, the multi coloured glass-stained window depicting badges of the fire squadrons during the Battle of Britain in 1940, as well as lilies, stars and emblems of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The complex detail that went into the small patterns inside the circular shaped ceiling shouldn’t be taken for granted. Compared to other European architecture, British architecture was influenced by the Normans, Anglo-Saxons, and the Romans. In addition, the implementation of Gothic architecture has been influenced by the French between the 12th to the 15th Century, then flourished its influences from Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Read more on the Gothic architecture between the 12th – 15th Century.

I am glad that I went inside Westminster Abbey because not only did I learn about British history and the people that were involved in the Abbey, I wanted to know more about the architecture, its history and influences. The two designs that were memorable were the ceilings in the Nave, the fan vaulted ceiling in the Lady Chapel and the exterior of  the Abbey.

The first thing I thought about was the detail the stonemasons, the scaffolders and other builders had put together to make something so beautiful. I always knew they used stone masons, man powered cranes and horse drawn wagons. I also knew they used lime, soil, and water but it must have taken them a great deal of time and money to make it perfect. I’m always so thankful to them because I don’t think they’d know the massive impact it would have on people’s lives thousands of years later. If only they know what they built would be a number one tourist attraction in history.

I stared at the abbey for several minutes thinking about its perfection. Initially, I only wanted to spend time outside the abbey, but my curiosity of the abbey drove me to go inside. This is what I learned:

• Westminster Abbey – home of Kings and Queens from medieval Britain going back to the 12th Century. These include royal tombs of King Edward the Confessor, Henry III, Henry VI, Richard III, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary I, George II and so many others.
• British poets’ and politicians’ burials going back to the 18th to the 19h Century. These include Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and the Bronte sisters.
• Architecture going back to the 12th Century.
• What the Abbey is used for now.

The only downside to it is that you’re not allowed to take photos. It’s something worth remembering during your trip.

Westminster Abbey is better in real life than it is in pictures, so when everything is back to normal, give Westminster Abbey a visit. Even if you don’t want to pay to go inside, join the free service where you can at least admire the architecture.

If you have any questions regarding Westminster Abbey, please contact me on Facebook, and follow me on social media.

Book with the London Pass

With the London Pass, exploring Westminster Abbey becomes a seamless experience, seamlessly blending history, architecture, and culture. This iconic landmark, included in the London Pass, offers visitors a journey through centuries of British history, from coronations of monarchs to the final resting place of renowned figures like Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton. The Pass not only grants access to the Abbey’s magnificent interiors, including the Poets’ Corner and the stunning Gothic architecture of the nave, but also ensures savings and convenience through exclusive discounts. By booking through the affiliate programme with Go City London Pass , visitors can enjoy additional perks such as discounts on top attractions and an extra 5% off by using the promo code AFFGOALL, making it an ideal choice for those looking to make the most of their London adventure.

I am also a part of an affiliate program with  Expedia.co.uk  and  Tripadvisor.co.uk  where you’ll find comparison prices and reviews on accommodation, restaurants and attractions.

If you book through me with no additional charge to you, I get a commission from them.

In addition, I am able to recommend and advise on your travel plans before you book your travel holidays (vacation as the Americans call it). Contact me on Facebook if you want to find out more about booking your London holidays.

Related posts:

Related Post

How long to visit Buckingham Palace State Rooms

How to make the most of your visit to Madame Tussauds London

8 Amazing Reasons to visit the beautiful Buckingham Palace

How to master the tower of london: your ultimate london guide, leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)

©RyanKing999/Getty Images

Westminster Abbey

Top choice in The West End

A splendid mixture of architectural styles, Westminster Abbey is considered the finest example of Early English Gothic. It's not merely a beautiful place of worship – the Abbey is still a working church and the stage on which history unfolds. Never a cathedral (the seat of a bishop), Westminster Abbey is what is called a "royal peculiar", administered by the Crown.

Inside Westminster Abbey

At the heart of the Abbey is the beautifully tiled sanctuary, the stage for coronations, royal weddings and funerals. Architect George Gilbert Scott designed the ornate High Altar in 1873. In front of the altar is the Cosmati Pavement, dating to 1268. It has intricate designs of small pieces of stone and glass inlaid into plain marble, which symbolize the universe at the end of time (an inscription claims the world will end after 19,683 years). At the entrance to the lovely Chapel of St John the Baptist is a sublime translucent alabaster  Virgin and Child , placed here in 1971.

The most sacred spot in the Abbey is the shrine of St Edward the Confessor, which lies behind the High Altar; access is restricted to guided tours to protect the fragile 13th-century flooring. King Edward, long considered a saint before he was canonised, was the founder of the Abbey, and the original building was consecrated a few weeks before his death in 1066. Henry III added a new shrine with Cosmati mosaics in the mid-12th century where the sick prayed for healing – and also chipped off a few souvenirs to take home.

The Quire (choir), a stunning space of gold, blue and red Victorian Gothic above a black-and-white chequerboard tiled floor, dates to the mid-19th century. It sits where the original choir for the monks' worship would have been but bears little resemblance to the original. Nowadays, the Quire is still used for singing, but its regular occupants are the Choir of Westminster Abbey – about 30 boys and 12 "lay vicars" (men) who sing the services and evensong.

Henry VII's magnificent Perpendicular Gothic–style Lady Chapel, with an impressive fan-vaulted ceiling and tall stained-glass windows is at the eastern end of the church.

Opened in 2018, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries are a museum and gallery space located in the medieval triforium, the arched gallery above the nave. Among its exhibits are the death masks and wax effigies of generations of royalty, armor and stained glass. Highlights are the graffiti-inscribed chair used for the coronation of Mary II, the beautifully illustrated manuscripts of the  Litlyngton Missal  from 1380 and the 13th-century Westminster Retable, England's oldest surviving altarpiece.

At the western end of the nave near the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, killed in France during WWI and laid to rest here in 1920, is St George's Chapel, which contains the rather ordinary-looking Coronation Chair, upon which every monarch since the early 14th century has been crowned (apart from joint monarchs Mary II and William III, who had their own chairs fashioned for the event in 1689).

Apart from the royal graves, keep an eye out for the many famous commoners interred here, especially in Poets' Corner, where you'll find the resting places of Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Alfred Tennyson, Samuel Johnson and Rudyard Kipling, as well as memorials to the other greats (William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters etc). Another set of illustrious stones is in Scientists' Corner near the north aisle of the nave, including the final resting places of Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and the ashes of Stephen Hawking.

The octagonal Chapter House dates from the 1250s and was where the monks would meet for daily prayer and their job assignments, before Henry VIII's suppression of the monasteries some three centuries later. To the right of the entrance to Chapter House is what's claimed to be the oldest door in Britain – it’s been there since the 1050s. Used as a treasury, the crypt-like Pyx Chamber dates from about 1070 and takes its name from boxes that held gold and silver to be tested for purity to make coins.

Much of the Abbey's architecture is from the 13th century, but it was founded much earlier, in AD 960. Henry III began work on the new Abbey building in 1245 but didn't complete it; the Gothic nave was finished under Richard II in 1388. The Lady Chapel was completed after 13 years of construction in 1516.

For centuries, the country's greatest have been interred here, including 17 monarchs from King Henry III (1272) to King George II (1760). Every monarch since William the Conqueror has been crowned here, with the exception of a couple of Eds who were either murdered (Edward V) or abdicated (Edward VIII) before the magic moment. It has also hosted 16 royal weddings, the most recent being that of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011.

Tickets and other practicalities

Sightseeing visitors must book their tickets in advance via the website . There is an additional charge for a multimedia guide. The Abbey is open for worship and individual prayer, and there are daily services. Check the website for the schedule . Evensong is 5pm on Tuesdays and 3pm on weekends.

Photography is allowed inside the church, but beware that there are restrictions on what you can photograph and when.

20 Dean's Yard. SW1

Get In Touch

020-7222 5152

https://​www​.westminster-abbey​.org​/

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Windsor Castle

20.63 MILES

The world’s largest and oldest continuously occupied fortress, Windsor Castle is a majestic vision of battlements and towers. Used for state occasions, it…

Tate Modern

One of London's most amazing attractions, Tate Modern is an outstanding modern- and contemporary-art gallery housed in the creatively revamped Bankside…

Natural History Museum

With its thunderous, animatronic dinosaur, riveting displays about planet earth, outstanding Darwin Centre and architecture straight from a Gothic fairy…

St Paul's Cathedral

Sir Christopher Wren’s 300-year-old architectural masterpiece is a London icon. Towering over diminutive Ludgate Hill in a superb position that's been a…

Tower of London

Few parts of the UK are as steeped in history or as impregnated with legend and superstition as the titanic stonework of the Tower of London. Not only is…

Shakespeare's Globe

Seeing a play at Shakespeare's Globe – ideally standing under the open-air "wooden O" – is experiencing the playwright's work at its best and most…

British Museum

With almost six million visitors trooping through its doors annually, the British Museum in Bloomsbury, one of the oldest and finest museums in the world,…

One of London’s best parks, Hyde Park spreads itself over 142 hectares of neat gardens, wild expanses of overgrown grass and glorious trees. As well as…

Nearby The West End attractions

1 . St Margaret's Church

Adjacent to Westminster Abbey is St Margaret's Church, the House of Commons' place of worship since 1614, where windows commemorate churchgoers Caxton and…

2 . Supreme Court

The Supreme Court, the highest court in the UK, was the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords until 2009. It is now housed in the neo-Gothic Middlesex…

3 . Jewel Tower

Once part of the royal Palace of Westminster, the Jewel Tower is the only surviving piece of the 1834 fire that engulfed the structure, and it's one of…

4 . College Garden

One of the original gardens within Westminster Abbey, the lovely 900-year-old College Garden was used for growing medicinal herbs and foods for the Abbey…

5 . Houses of Parliament

Both the elected House of Commons and the House of Lords, who are appointed or hereditary, sit in the sumptuous Houses of Parliament, officially called…

6 . Big Ben

The most famous feature of the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) is Elizabeth Tower, more commonly known as Big Ben. A major £61-million…

7 . Churchill War Rooms

Former Prime Minister Winston Churchill helped coordinate the Allied resistance against Nazi Germany on a Bakelite telephone from this underground complex…

8 . The Cenotaph

The Cenotaph, completed in 1920 by Edwin Lutyens and fashioned from Portland stone, is Britain’s most important memorial to the men and women of Britain…

Visiting Westminster Abbey – Tickets, tours & FAQs

By: Author Tracy Collins

Posted on Last updated: July 1, 2024

• Everything you need to know to plan and book your visit to Westminster Abbey

Visiting Westminster Abbey: Tickets + Tours

Westminster abbey facts and figures, what to see at westminster abbey, getting to westminster abbey, opening hours, when is the best time to visit, services at westminster abbey.

• What other London attractions are located near Westminster Abbey?

Tips for planning your visit

Our top 3 picks: westminster tickets & tours.

#1 TOP PICK

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Westminster Abbey Tour with Diamond Jubilee Galleries

✔️ Skip the line entry ✔️ Exclusive access to the Diamond Jubilee Galleries ✔️ Small group tour with guide

Westminster Abbey Entrance Ticket ✔️ Book with Get Your Guide for free cancellation (up to 24 hours before) ✔️ Exchange at ticket office at the Abbey

Guided tour of Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament

✔️ Combined small group tour ✔️ Explore 2 top London destinations ✔️ Guide

Nearest Tube station – Westminster ( Circle, District and Jubilee lines )

How long to set aside for your visit? 1½ – 2 hours

• Westminster Abbey Entrance Ticket

Good to know – Entry to Westminster Abbey is included in the London Pass .

Combi tickets

• Westminster Walking Tour & Westminster Abbey Entry – Walking tour of the top 20 sights of Westminster (3 hours) and Westminster Abbey Entrance Ticket
• Skip the Line Westminster Abbey Tour with Diamond Jubilee Galleries – Skip the queues and dive into the history of England’s most important Gothic building, including the exclusive Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries.

Guided tours

Prefer a guided tour of Westminster Abbey?

• Guided tour with early access to Westminster Abbey – Buy ticket
• Private 2 ½ hour tour of Westminster Abbey with skip-the-line and a London Blue Badge Guide. – Book here
• Skip-the-line Westminster Abbey small group tour with a guided visit & tour around the Houses of Parliament – Book here
• Verger-guided tours are available for £10 but can only be booked on arrival. Spaces are limited and are subject to change or cancellation at short notice.
• Small group tour including entry and tour of Westminster Abbey & tour of Big Ben(external) – Book here
• Walks Tours – London in a Day small group tour – includes Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London and the Changing of the Guard.

Visiting Westminster Abbey

• Westminster Abbey was founded in the 10th century and is where every British monarch since 1066 has been crowned.
• The Coronation Chair (which has been used since the 14th century) can be seen in the abbey.
• It was constructed between 1245 and 1517 and is considered one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the world.
• The tombs of 17 monarchs and located in the Abbey.
• 16 royal weddings have taken place in the Abbey including the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011.
• Poets’ Corner contains memorials to many of England’s greatest writers, including Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Austen.
• The abbey’s famous “Oak Screen” was carved from a single oak tree and is considered one of the finest examples of medieval wood carving in England.
• Westminster Abbey was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
• The abbey’s bell tower, known as the Great West Tower, is the largest and highest of its kind in the UK. Its bell – known as “Great Tom” – is the largest bell in the country.
• Many famous people are buried in the Abbey including Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, George Frederic Handel, Laurence Olivier and Charles Dickens.

If you are visiting Westminster Abbey as part of your London itinerary it is good to know a little before you visit so you don’t miss anything which is of particular interest.

• Poet’s Corner – located in the south transept more than 100 poets and writers are buried or have memorials here.
• Coronation Chair – is located in a specially-built enclosure within St George’s Chapel at the west end of the Nave. The chair has been used for the Coronation of British monarchs since 1399.
• Royal Tombs – at the eastern end of the church are the tombs of 30 kings and queens
• The Lady Chapel – is located at the Eastern end of the church and has a spectacular fan-vaulted ceiling
• The grave of the Unknown Warrior – on 11th November 1920 a body was brought from France to be buried here. The grave is located at the west end of the Nave.
• The Cloisters – is the area where the monks would have spent most of their time
• The Quire – is where the choir sit and is located in the centre of the Abbey.
• Pyx Chamber – is one of the oldest parts of the Abbey and was built around 1070 and is located off the East Chapter.
• Chapter House – is a meeting place where the monks gathered with the abbot the Chapter House is located in the East Cloister.
• The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries – Located 16 metres above the floor of the Abbey the galleries display treasures and tell the history of the Abbey. Additional charge – timed tickets .

• Tube:  The closest tube station is Westminster (Circle, District and Jubilee lines) which is less than a 5 minute walk to the Tower of London.
• Overground rail:  Victoria Station
• Bus routes: There are a number of bus routes that pass by the Abbey including 11, 24, 88, 148, 211
• Uber boat:  Westminster Pier
• Sightseeing buses: All major sightseeing buses pass by the Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is a church and as such is open for services on Sundays but not for sightseeing.

• Monday – Friday: 9:00 AM – 3.30 PM
• Saturday – 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries

• Monday – Friday: 10:00 AM – 3.00 PM
• Saturday – 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM
• Westminster Abbey is one of the most popular tourist attractions in London so expect it to be busy!
• It can be especially crowded on Saturdays and during London’s peak season.
• If possible plan your visit for a weekday.
• Visit as early in the day as you can – be there before opening time or book a tour which allows early access or skip the line like this one .

There are regular services at Westminster Abbey which can be attended by the public and are free of charge.

• Morning Prayer
• Holy Communion
• Evening Prayer
• Sung Eucharist

Choral services are sung daily during term time by the Choir of Westminster Abbey. Sundays are the best time to visit to hear the choir as there are a number of services held. Alternatively, attend for Evensong during the week which is held around 5.00 PM.

Do check the official calendar when planning your visit.

What other London attractions are located near Westminster Abbey ?

• The Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster)
• Churchill War Rooms
• 10 Downing Street
• Buckingham Palace
• Personal photographs are allowed in the church but the use of a flash is forbidden. No pictures are allowed during services nor permitted at any time in the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor, St Faith’s Chapel or The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries.
• Food and drink – Meals are served throughout the day at the Cellarium Café and Terrace. There is also a Kiosk that offers snacks, a light meal and drinks. A popular and affordable afternoon tea is served at the Cellarium Café and Terrace .
• A multimedia guide is included with the entry ticket – it is available in 14 languages. The app can be downloaded before you visit – Apple here , Android here or you can use a device supplied upon entry to the Abbey.
• The floor of the Abbey and steps are uneven so ensure that you are wearing sensible footwear.
• Bag checks are carried out before entry to the Abbey. There is no facility to check large bags or suitcases.
• There is no dress code but visitors are requested to dress respectfully.

READ NEXT – Things to do and see in Westminster

• Visiting the Tower of London
• Visiting the London Eye
• Visiting Windsor Castle
• Visiting Kensington Palace
• Hampton Court Palace
• St Paul’s Cathedral
• Best apps for London

London Travel Guide & Itinerary Planner Ebook (+ 4 BONUS ebooks)

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

TravelAwaits

Our mission is to serve the 50+ traveler who's ready to cross a few items off their bucket list.

16 Reasons Westminster Abbey Is Famous (And Why You Should Visit!)

r.nagy / Shutterstock

• Activities and Interests
• Destinations
• History and Culture
• UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• United Kingdom

Westminster Abbey is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the best-known landmarks of London. It’s close to the Houses of Parliament and is easy to reach by bus, Tube, or boat.

The building itself is an outstanding medieval Gothic church, with some even older parts. The vast collection of tombs, statues, and other memorials is a fascinating three-dimensional encyclopedia of British history. If that weren’t enough, this royal church has been the site of many famous events.

Westminster Abbey is about as awe-inspiring a church as you could imagine. It offers daily services and even boasts the shrine of a saint at its heart.

Here are 16 reasons to visit Westminster Abbey on a trip to London .

1. It Boasts More Than 1,000 Years Of History

The Saxons built a church to honor Saint Peter on the site in the early 700s. Around 960, that church became a small Benedictine abbey. In the mid-1000s, the last Saxon king, Edward, built a new abbey called West Minster. He also built the original Palace of Westminster.

King Edward’s Westminster Abbey was consecrated in December of 1065. The Pyx Chamber and Undercroft and Britain’s oldest door are all that remain of that building.

The present Gothic-style abbey was built in the 1200s by King Henry III as a grander replacement.

The Henry VII Lady Chapel was added in the 1500s, and the two towers by the Great West Door are from the 1700s.

Westminster Abbey continues to change and grow, as the recent Triforium Project demonstrates.

Dmitry Naumov / Shutterstock

2. It’s A UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament), Saint Margaret’s Church, and Westminster Abbey together make up a UNESCO World Heritage site .

At the nearby medieval Jewel Tower , interpretive signs show how the old palace and the abbey functioned as one site, with no busy street separating them.

3. The Figures Of The Great North Door Are Incredibly Detailed

Visitors enter the abbey by the Great North Door, where detailed carvings and gargoyles set the medieval stage.

4. There Are Monuments To British Politicians And Statesmen

White marble statues of three men from the Canning family are among the first things you’ll see inside.

This is the North Transept, also called Statesmen’s Aisle. It’s full of memorials to politicians, many from the Victorian period.

In the nave, you’ll find additional monuments to politicians, some depicting dramatic scenes like Prime Minister Spencer Perceval’s assassination in the House of Commons in 1812. Toga-clad Charles James Fox, who served as Foreign Secretary, is melodramatically draped in the arms of Liberty.

cowardlion / Shutterstock

5. The Building Itself Is Magnificent

As you enter the building, you’ll see just how spacious and beautiful Westminster Abbey is.

The Gothic architecture evokes a spiritual atmosphere. Your gaze is drawn up the vast stone columns. The columns branch out at the tops, where ribbed vaulting supports the high ceiling. The pointed arches of the windows and doors, the great circular rose windows , the extensive use of stained glass, the flying buttresses, and the delicate appearance of the stonework are all characteristic of the world’s great Gothic medieval cathedrals.

Later, you’ll see the Henry VII Lady Chapel. Its ornate ceiling uses an ingenious design called fan vaulting, supported by pendants.

6. It Honors Britain’s Best Engineers, Architects, And Scientists

The windows and monuments in the nave honor engineers, architects, and scientists. Robert Stephenson’s window shows the famous Rocket locomotive.

Think of a great name from British science and engineering, and chances are you’ll find that person here. In 2018, Professor Stephen Hawking joined Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin at Westminster Abbey.

8. It’s Home To Britain’s Tomb Of The Unknown Warrior

On November 11, 1920, the body of an unidentified British warrior killed during World War I was buried here in soil from France. Looking upon his simple grave is a moving experience.

Walking along through the quire (or choir), you are reminded that music is an integral part of the abbey’s daily life.

CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 3.0 )

9. It’s A Royal Peculiar

Westminster Abbey is one of a small number of churches known as Royal Peculiars. These churches are under the direct supervision of the monarch rather than being the responsibility of a bishop.

10. It’s The Place Where Kings And Queens Are Crowned

Since 1066, Westminster Abbey is where English monarchs have been crowned using some of the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London .

For the ceremony, the Coronation Chair is placed on the Cosmati Pavement . This richly patterned mosaic of stones and glass was created by Italian craftsmen in 1268 and has been beautifully restored .

11. Adventurers And Generals Are Interred There

Fans of Arctic exploration will know that Sir John Franklin and all his men died trying in vain to find the Northwest Passage. Franklin’s memorial in Saint John the Evangelist’s Chapel features a bust of him above a carving of his ships, Erebus and Terror, fatefully trapped in the Hudson Bay ice.

The large monument to General James Wolfe depicts the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, in which the English defeated the French in 1759. The sculpture shows how the soldiers came by boat on the Saint Lawrence River, pulled their cannons up the steep cliffs, and attacked by surprise.

Tupungato / Shutterstock

12. A Saint Is Buried There

The average visitor to Westminster Abbey may not know they’re in the presence of a saint. About 100 years after building the abbey, King Edward became Saint Edward the Confessor . His shrine is the heart of Westminster Abbey. In October , the abbey celebrates Saint Edward’s feast day.

King Henry III honored Saint Edward by building the Gothic Westminster Abbey and the shrine. Henry’s own tomb is not far away.

Until the mid-1300s, Saint Edward was the patron saint of England, but then he was ousted by the feisty dragon-slayer, Saint George.

13. Many British Royals Are Buried There

There are 30 royal tombs in Westminster Abbey. Many of these tombs have life-size effigies on top. These are fascinating, partly because they show how high-ranking people used to dress, but mainly because they are so unusual. I hadn’t expected to see a knight in armor lying on his back.

The Tudor family is prominent. The Lady Chapel contains the tomb of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, and his wife, Elizabeth of York. Their famous son, King Henry VIII, is not buried at Westminster Abbey (he’s at Windsor), but all three of his children are, and so is his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.

Queen Elizabeth I’s effigy wears an ornate crown and holds an orb and scepter. She lies near her half sister, Queen Mary I, the one who put her in the Tower.

14. It Has Hosted Numerous Royal Weddings And Funerals

Did you watch the wedding ceremony of Kate Middleton and Prince William in April of 2011? In pictures of them exchanging vows, you can see the Cosmati Pavement.

Queen Elizabeth II was married here in 1947, when she was still a princess.

There have been 16 royal weddings at Westminster Abbey, starting in 1100.

Monarchs are no longer buried here, but funerals and memorial services continue. Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 and the Queen Mother’s in 2002 were both major events for Westminster Abbey.

Yuri Turkov / Shutterstock

15. It Honors Famous Poets, Writers, And Musicians

Coming from the royal tombs into the Poets’ Corner, there’s a change in the place’s mood. It lightens up as you see memorials to notable British artists (not just poets) like the Bronte sisters, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Thomas Hardy. There are more than 100 of these memorials, and the list is still growing.

Charles Dickens hadn’t wanted a big funeral, and he hadn’t asked to be buried in Westminster Abbey. His funeral was a secret, and his marker bears plain text with just his name and dates.

The statue of the musician George Frideric Handel, on the other hand, is holding sheets of printed music and looks to be keeping time with his foot.

The access to the cloisters and the beautiful Chapter House is nearby.

16. The Modern Martyrs Sculptures Are Unique

After you leave the abbey through the Great West Door, look back. The Modern Martyrs sculptures, unveiled in 1998, honor 10 Christians who died for their beliefs. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Saint Oscar Romero are two of them.

What To Know Before You Go

There is an admission charge to enter Westminster Abbey as a tourist.

The abbey holds worship services every day. On some days, the abbey is only open for services, not for tourists. It’s essential to check the website in advance of your visit, whether you plan to visit as a tourist or as a worshipper .

Saint Margaret’s Church, right beside Westminster Abbey, is free to enter, though as with all churches, you should expect to give a donation. It too has a rich history and a variety of monuments, including one to a Beefeater who served the Tudors.

The abbey’s accessibility features are described on the website.

If you need a break, just sit down and look up. It’s an inspiration.

Canadian writer Jill Browne lives in Calgary, Alberta, not far from Banff National Park. She travels regularly to London, England, often solo, and has lots of tips for walking and sightseeing there. Jill blogs about London history on LondonHeritageHotspots as well as on Instagram . She loves to plan family history trips for people, especially when their roots connect them to the British Isles. Her website, Genealogy And Travel is devoted to genealogy travel and family history tourism, no matter where you are. You don't have to fly to get in touch with your ancestry.

An experienced road tripper, Jill has driven across Canada and the U.S. multiple times. She and her geologist husband have explored some of Australia and the North Island of New Zealand by car, and are hoping to go back for more. Jill likes gardens, forests, and anything with plants, really. "Adventure without risking life and limb" is her travel motto, and the byline for her blog, Middle of the Road Less Travelled .

• Switzerland
• New York City
• The Bahamas
• Travel Tips
• Work With Us
• Russell (The Other One)
• Get to Know Us

Westminster Abbey Guide: Important Things to Know Before You Visit

I visited Westminster Abbey for the first time when I was a teenager. While I still remember my visit, I wanted to go to the Abbey again now that I have learned a bit more about British history.

It’s a UNESCO Heritage site and one of those places that you shouldn’t miss when visiting London. Westminster Abbey is a working church with strong ties to the Royal family and British Government. The building is an example of medieval perpendicular gothic architecture at its finest.

There are a lot of things to see at Westminster Abbey so I have created this guide to help you plan your visit. Learn more about its history, the highlights that you shouldn’t miss, and get some important tips to make the most of your time at the Abbey.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Please see disclosure for more information.

The History of Westminster Abbey

Entry (north transept), north choir aisle, tomb of the unknown warrior, north ambulatory chapels, shrine of st. edward the confessor, tomb of elizabeth i and mary i, the lady chapel, tomb of mary queen of scots, south ambulatory aisle, poets’ corner, queen’s diamond jubilee galleries, pyx chamber, chapter house, coronation chair, americans in westminster abbey, westminster abbey shop, where to eat at westminster abbey, where to get the best photos of westminster abbey, westminster abbey hours, westminster abbey admission, wednesday lates, combined ticket with st. paul’s cathedral, london pass, attending a service at westminster abbey, how to get to westminster abbey, bags in westminster abbey, westminster abbey app, is westminster abbey accessible, how long does it take to visit westminster abbey, is westminster abbey good for kids, should you do a guided tour of westminster abbey, other tourist attractions near westminster abbey, is visiting westminster abbey worth it, expert tips for visiting westminster abbey.

The site has been a place of worship for over 1,000 years. Benedictine monks founded Westminster Abbey in 960 (although there were churches on the site at least since the 7th century). Since 1066, every English and then British coronation has taken place at the Abbey and it is the final resting place for monarchs, poets, musicians, scientists, and politicians. It has also been the venue for 16 royal weddings.

The church built by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century was constructed in the Romanesque style. It was the first in England to be shaped like a cross. Only some areas from the lower part of the monastic dormitory still remain.

In the 13th century, Henry III ordered a new more elaborate church to be built with the shrine of Edward the Confessor at its heart. This is the building we see today. You will notice typical gothic architectural features like pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, flying buttresses, and rose windows. The Rose window above entrance is from 1722 and depicts apostles excluding Judas. The opposite rose window is from 1902 and depicts a variety of figures.

Henry VII added the Lady Chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In the 16th century, Henry VIII granted the Abbey cathedral status to spare it from the destruction that most English abbeys faced during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Elizabeth I gave the Abbey its formal title – the Collegiate Church of St Peter. It is not part of the reporting hierarchy within the Church of England and instead, reports directly to the sovereign rather than the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Abbey was damaged by Puritans during the 17th century but was again protected by its close ties to the government. The two western towers were added in the 18th century.

Westminster Abbey was damaged during World War II, but luckily many treasures were sent away to be hidden when the war started. The Abbey suffered minor damage during the Blitz in 1940. In 1941, the roof was hit by several bombs that started a fire. The burning timbers and molten lead fell into the open area below where the fire could be more easily extinguished.

Most recently, in 1998, ten statues of modern martyrs were added in the niches over the West Door which had previously been empty. The modern martyrs are Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, St Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Wang Zhiming, St Maximilian Kolbe, Manche Masemola, Esther John, Janani Luwum, Lucian Tapiedi, and Grand Duchess Elizabeth.  In 2018, Westminster Abbey was featured in London Lumiere.

It is also the site of some state funerals including the one for Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022.

Please be conscious of the historical nature of the building. Do not lean on or touch any of the monuments.

What to See at Westminster Abbey

Even though it was my second visit to Westminster Abbey I was surprised by how much there is to see. There are over 3,000 people buried in Westminster Abbey! That’s not all. There are historical artifacts and interesting architecture that you don’t want to miss.

I want to manage your expectations – you will not be able to see everything in one visit. Let me help you prioritize and tell you the most important things to see when visiting Westminster Abbey.

The history starts the second you walk in the door. Before your audio tour starts you will see several important figures in British history. It shows that there is a strong link between the Abbey and the government.

There are larger-than-life statues to honor some of the leading Prime Ministers from the 18th and 19th centuries including Viscount Patterson , Robert Peel , Benjamin Disraeli , and William Gladstone (who is buried nearby). It is a bit ironic that the tributes to Disraeli and Gladstone are so close together when they were bitter rivals.

The largest memorial in this area is dedicated to Prime Minister William Pitt . He is buried nearby with his son William Pitt the Younger . There is a plaque honoring the younger near the west door.

Also if you take a minute to admire the stained glass here you will notice that there is one panel that is modern. The window pays tribute to the Queen and depicts a hawthorn blossom scene in Yorkshire. It was designed by David Hockney and installed in 2018.

This is where the audio tour starts but it doesn’t mention what to see on this aisle. We enjoyed looking at the plaques and statues. We found a few interesting ones:

• William Wilberforce: As a member of Parliament (and close friend of William Pitt), he took up the cause for the abolition of slavery. The Abolition Bill became law in 1807, long before slavery was outlawed in the US.
• Charles Darwin: It’s a bit ironic that Charles Darwin is buried in a religious building given that he introduced the theory of evolution, but fitting that he is near his fellow scientists. (Isaac Newton and others are in the Nave on the other side of the rope).
• Musicians: Music is integral to the Abbey, so it is fitting there is an area where several musicians and composers including Henry Purcell , Ralph Vaughan Williams , John Robinson , and William Sterndale Bennett are remembered.

The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior can be found at the back of the nave. It is the tomb of a British soldier brought back from France and buried in Westminster Abbey on Armistice Day in 1920. The grave is appropriately framed with poppies, a symbol of both Remembrance and hope for a peaceful future. This is the only grave in the Abbey that is never walked on.

Don’t miss the framed document on the pillar to the north of the grave. It contains the Congressional Medal of Honor that General Pershing awarded to the Unknown Warrior on October 17, 1921, on behalf of the USA. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s flag, presented to the Unknown Warrior in October 2013, is also on the pillar.

When the Duke of York (later King George VI) married Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon in the Abbey in 1923 she laid her wedding bouquet on the grave as a mark of respect. She had lost a brother during the war. All royal brides married in the Abbey since then have sent back their bouquets to be laid on the grave. Some royal brides who were married elsewhere have done the same.

Near the tomb of the Unknown Warrior is a plaque to honor Prime Minister Winston Churchill . It was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 19th September 1965, the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, and a wreath was laid by his widow. He is buried near Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire with other family members.

The nave is the main public part of the Abbey. This is where commoners would most likely sit at a service. While you are in the nave take time to admire the medieval ceiling and chandeliers.

As you walk around the area, you will notice several important people commemorated here:

• John Harrison , the clockmaker, has a memorial with a meridian line engraved with its own longitude of 0 degrees, 7 minutes and 35 seconds West in two metals to highlight Harrison’s most widespread invention, the bimetallic strip thermometer.
• David Livingstone , a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of the late 19th-century Victorian era is buried here.
• Nelson Mandela , the South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and President of South Africa has a memorial stone inscribed with the words “Forgiveness Reconciliation.”

The Nave also has an area called Scientists’ Corner. Sir Isaac Newton ’s elaborate and imposing tomb is on the left side of the nave just before you go to the Quire. Several other important figures in science are memorialized nearby. The latest addition to Scientists’ Corner is Stephen Hawking who died in 2018. His plaque has a picture of a black hole and bears the inscription “Here lies what was mortal of Stephen Hawking”. This is the English translation of the words on Newton’s tomb which says the same thing but in Latin.

The Quire area is where the monks would sit for daily prayers. Now, it is used for the Westminster Choir and clergy. The Choir of Westminster Cathedral was founded in 1901 and is known as one of the finest in the world.

The Quire stalls you see today were installed in 1848. Stalls not used by the Choir are assigned to the Monarch, clergy, officers of the Abbey, and High Commissioners for the Commonwealth countries when they attend services. Some have nameplates.

The High Altar is the place where the Eucharist is celebrated. There are four services each day. They change the color and the types of flowers on the altar for the seasons.

The Cosmati Pavement in front of the altar was laid in 1268 by craftsmen from Rome under the order of Henry III. It is made of colored glass and marble and was restored in 2010. The Monarch is crowned here during the coronation ceremony.

These chapels contain some elaborate tombs with intricate carvings, but we had a difficult time figuring out who was who. When we were able to find names, we didn’t recognize them. If you are tight on time, you can go through this section quickly.

Behind the high altar is the shrine of Edward the Confessor . The shrine is considered the center of the Abbey and five kings (including Henry III , Edward III , and Henry V ) and four queens are now buried in this area. The floor is extremely fragile so only those here for private prayer or the guided tour can actually enter the Shrine. You can try to peak through the stairs or get a view from above in the Queen’s Gallery.

Edward died in 1066 and was buried in the Abbey. In 1163, he was moved to a special shrine. Then in 1269, he was moved to a more elaborate shrine created by Henry III. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Edward’s tomb was moved and robbed of its jewels. When Mary I took the throne she repaired the Shrine, moved the coffin back to its place, and gave jewels to replace the ones that were stolen.

In this narrow room with an ornate fanned ceiling, you will find the tomb of Elizabeth I and Mary I . I found it ironic they were buried together as sisters as they did not get along. The figure on top of the tomb is clearly Elizabeth and there is barely a mention of Mary.

While both are the daughters of Henry VIII, Mary’s mother, Catherine of Aragon, was Catholic, and Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn, was Protestant. Mary is also known as Bloody Mary because she had many Protestants killed.

Innocents’ Corner in the back of the contains a sarcophagus for the remains of two princes who are known today as The Princes in the Tower . Princes Edward and Richard were the only sons of King Edward IV, and are usually assumed to have been murdered in the Tower of London to allow their uncle, Richard III, to claim the throne.

The Lady Chapel is like its own church. It has a nave, quire, font, and altar. It was built by Henry VII and is one of the best examples of late-medieval English architecture. The roof and walls are intricate, with delicate carvings, almost more like glass than stone.

Behind the altar, you will find the tomb of Henry VII and his queen. Key members of his family are buried around him. Members of the Stuart dynasty, including Charles II , are buried in a vault under the floor. Henry VIII is the only Tudor monarch who is not buried at Westminster Abbey. Instead, his final resting place is at Windsor Castle with his favorite wife, Jane Seymour.

In the back of the Lady Chapel behind the tomb of Henry VII, there is the RAF chapel which is dedicated to the men of the Royal Air Force who died in the Battle of Britain in 1940. A hole in the stonework has been covered in glass as a reminder of when the Abbey was hit by bombs in 1940. The stained glass shows the badges of the squadrons that fought including those from the US, Canada, Poland, and the former Czechoslovakia.

On the floor, there is a plaque noting the temporary burial place of Oliver Cromwell . His body was removed when Charles II took the throne. Cromwell’s head was cut off and place on a spike outside Westminster Hall.

The room across the church from where Elizabeth I is buried houses the tomb of her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots . After Elizabeth I ordered her execution, Mary was originally buried in Peterborough Cathedral. When her son James, became James I of England/VI of Scotland, he had her body moved to Westminster Abbey. He made sure her tomb was even bigger than Elizabeth’s. It is decorated with symbols of the three countries where Mary laid claim to the throne – England, Scotland, and France.

Lady Margaret Beaufort , who was the mother of King Henry VII, and Margaret Douglas , who was Mary Queen of Scots’s mother-in-law are also buried in this room. Margaret Douglas was the mother of Mary’s husband, Lord Darnley, who was the father of James I/VI.

The small chapels off the aisle contain more ornate tombs. In this area, there are memorials to two Queens, Anne Neville (the wife of Richard III) and Anne of Cleeves (Henry VIII’s 4th wife). Additionally, many members of the Percy family, who own Alnwick Castle , are buried here.

I was surprised by the number of people that are memorialized in Poets’ Corner. Geoffrey Chaucer was the first person buried in this part of the Abbey. Then, Edmond Spencer wanted to be buried near Chaucer and Poets’ Corner was born.

Some of the other famous writers commemorated in Poets’ Corner are William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, Lord Bryon, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Lewis Carroll, CS Lewis, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy. and Jane Austen. Not all these legends are buried in Westminster Abbey, for example, Jane Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral . In addition to the famous writers, there was also a plaque for Laurence Olivier, the actor, and one dedicated to the war poets.

At the back of Poets’ Corner, you will find the entrance to the Queen’s Galleries which opened in 2018. Here you will find over 300 objects chosen by the Queen from the Abbey’s collection.

We debated about skipping the galleries as we were a bit tight on time. I am glad we didn’t. It might have been my favorite part of the visit. There is an additional charge of £5 per person and you can buy the tickets at the entrance to the galleries.

When you enter the galleries, you will be given a brochure that includes a map and some of the highlights. Use the brochure as a guide, but try to browse and see items not listed too. We were amazed at some of the things we saw like:

• Copy of the Magna Carta – One of 24 surviving copies from 1300. The original copy we saw in Salisbury Cathedral was from 1215.
• Replicas of the Crown Jewel s – The real Crown Jewels are kept under extremely tight security in the Tower of London, these replicas are used for rehearsals.
• The Coronation Chair of Mary II – Since Mary ruled jointly with William they needed an extra coronation chair. You see the coronation chair that has been used for all the other Monarchs for about the last 1,000 years by the exit of the Abbey.
• Funeral Effigies of several Monarchs and other important figures including King Edward III, Queen Mary I, King Charles II, King William III, Queen Mary II, Queen Anne, and the head of King Henry VII.
• Retable – The 13th century Westminster Retable is England’s oldest altarpiece.
• Litlyngton Missal – A lavish manuscript used for prayers at the high altar. It reminded me of the Book of Kells .
• Marriage License of Prince William and Catherine Middleton – This document is a piece of art! It was exciting to see something so important and personal to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

In addition to the treasures on display, I enjoyed getting the view of the abbey from above. I could imagine all the people gathering for a coronation or royal wedding. From the Queen’s Gallery, I was also able to get an aerial view of Edward the Confessor’s Shrine.

The Cloisters used to be the center of monastic life. The most important buildings of the monastery were organized around it. There are actually two cloisters at Westminster Abbey. I think a lot of people (like us) miss the Little Cloisters as there is no sign directing you to walk to it. It’s down the gated walkway just past the Pyx Chamber.

The infirmary was in the Little Cloister. They grew medicinal herbs in the nearby garden. Today some of the Abbey Clergy live here. There is a doorway you can look through and see the ruins of Chapel St. Catherine and Victoria Tower at the southern end of the Palace of Westminster.

If you visit Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, the gardens are also open to the public. Our visit was on a Saturday, so we couldn’t go to the gardens.

The Pyx Chamber is one of the oldest parts of Westminster Abbey. It was built in the late 11th century. Originally it was the undercroft below the monk’s dormitory. During later years it became a storage room for valuables because it had thick walls, iron window bars, and six locks on the door.

The name “Pyx” came from the small boxes where official samples of gold and silver coins were kept. New coins were tested annually in a public “Trail of the Pyx” at the Palace of Westminster.

Don’t miss the Chapter House. It was built in the mid-13th century on the orders of Henry III and has some of my favorite architecture and artwork in the Abbey. The walkway into the Chapter House reminded me of the cellarium at Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire .

When you enter the Chapter House, turn around and look at the medieval sculptures above the doorway. These include the Archangel Gabriel, Christ in Majesty, and Mary. The Christ sculpture was actually added in Victorian times. These all used to be brightly painted. There is more beautiful stonework in the ceiling.

Stained glass windows surround you in the Chapter House. The original 13th-century glass was lost by the 18th century. Now, looking at the glass it’s hard to tell it was also destroyed during World War II. They tried to use as much of the Victorian glass as they could in the new panels, which include coats of arms from people associated with the Chapter House over the years. The southwest window has tiny images related to World War II.

The paintings on the walls around the room aren’t in the best condition, but you can still imagine what it would have looked like in its prime. The stone benches are where the monks would sit during their daily meetings. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, they used the Chapter House for Parliamentary meetings and to store state documents.

The medieval floor tiles in the center of the room are worth a look. They are made by stamping designs in clay, filling in the impressions with a lighter clay, and then glazing. The glaze has worn away. The patterns in the tiles include Henry III’s coat of arms, people, fish, animals, geometric shapes, and a rose window similar to the one in the Abbey.

The Coronation Chair is on display just before you leave Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, you can’t get too close to it, but that is understandable given its age and significance. While coronations have taken place at the Abbey since 1066, the chair has only been used for the last 700 years.

King Edward I had the Coronation Chair made to enclose the famous Stone of Scone , also known as the Stone of Destiny, which he brought from Scotland to the Abbey in 1296. Now, the Stone of Scone is on display along with the Crown Jewels in Edinburgh Castle but will be returned to Westminster Abbey for future coronations.

Westminster Abbey is not just a place to commemorate important British legends. There are people from across the globe that are honored here. Even a few Americans! While I didn’t find any Americans buried in Westminster Abbey, I did find these tributes:

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – In Poets’ Corner, there is a sculpture to honor the American poet, who is buried in Massachusetts.
• George Peabody – The American philanthropist was originally buried in Westminster Abbey but later moved back to Massachusetts. Look for a plaque in the nave.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt – As you leave the Abbey, there is a large plaque just to the left of the door for FDR, the 32nd President of the United States, calling him “a faithful friend of freedom and of Britain.”
• Martin Luther King Jr. – MLK, the civil rights leader, was added as one of the 10 modern martyrs about the West Door in 1998.

After you exit the abbey, the gift shop will be on your left. It has plenty of London souvenirs and some books that will teach you more about Westminster Abbey.

While photos are not allowed inside the Abbey, you can still get a nice picture that will help to remember your visit. We found a few good photo spots:

• Outside Westminster Abbey. On Tothill Street, it’s fun to pose with the iconic red phone boxes.
• Inside the cloisters.
• Inside the entrance to the Chapter House.

Westminster Abbey is a working church so the hours for visitors are limited. It’s best to check on the website for the date of your visit.

Keep in mind the Abbey is always closed for visitors on Sundays. The Abbey Gardens are only open Tuesday through Thursday.

Regular admission to Westminster Abbey costs £21 for adults and £9 for children. If you want to do one of the guided tours, it’s an additional fee of £7. Admission to the Queen’s Galleries is also an additional fee of £5.

Buy your tickets here in advance, it will be a few pounds more if you wait and buy them when you get to the Abbey.

How to Save on Westminster Abbey Admission

It is possible to save money when visiting Westminster Abbey, you just need to be a bit strategic. Consider adjusting the time of your visit or purchase a London sightseeing pass.

To save money at Westminster Abbey consider visiting during “Wednesday Lates.” Admission is half-price on Wednesdays from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm. The multimedia tour is not available during this time, but that shouldn’t be a concern as you can use the Westminster Abbey App instead. You will also not be able to go to the Queen’s Galleries, the Quire, or the High Altar.

Since the Abbey is only open for a few hours for Wednesday Lates, you will need to make the most of the limited time. I would recommend arriving a little early so that you will be one of the first to enter. Also, buy tickets in advance to skip the line after going through security.

Tickets to see Westminster Abbey during Wednesday Lates cost £11 for adults and £5 for children. You can purchase the tickets here .

If you also plan on going to St. Paul’s there is a pass that you can purchase that will save you money.  This pass includes admission to Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s for a discount.

Westminster Abbey is included as part of the London Pass. This can be an easy way to save money on your sightseeing in London because it includes 80 of London’s top attractions for one price. Some of the other London must-sees included on the pass are the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, Up at the O2 , and Wembley Stadium Tour .

Click here to get more information on the London Pass.

How to visit Westminster Abbey for free

If you are not concerned about seeing all of Westminster Abbey but want to say that you have been inside the famous church, you can attend a service for free. You won’t be able to walk around and see the monuments but at least you can see some of the architectural highlights.

Westminster Abbey, with its rich history and grand architecture, holds daily services open to the public (check the schedule here ). Despite not being religious, I was intrigued and decided to attend an evensong service. It turned out to be a truly memorable experience.  Let me share a glimpse of what happened and some tips for those interested in joining a service at Westminster Abbey.

To make the most of the service, plan to arrive at least 10 minutes before it starts, but earlier is better as they start letting people in 30 minutes ahead of time. Check in with the staff at the visitor’s exit, known as the west door, and go through a security check. They’ll guide you to a line in the North Choir Aisle. Remember, no photos inside.

I went on a Wednesday, which happened to be the choir’s day off. Fifteen minutes before the service, we were seated in the Quire. If you arrive later, you’ll be directed to the Nave, which still offers a good view. They provided an electronic order of service through a QR code. The actual service lasted about 20 minutes, but it can be longer on other days with the choir present.

Westminster Abbey is located in Central London near the Houses of Parliament. The closest tube station is Westminster, but Victoria and St. James Park stations are also within walking distance.

You pay for your tube ride using an oyster card, contactless credit card, or Apple pay.  If you are visiting from overseas, consider purchasing the Visitor Oyster Card , which can be mailed to you so you are ready to use public transportation as soon as you arrive.

Things to Know Before Visiting Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is a popular tourist attraction that is also a place of worship. There are a few things that need to be arranged before you visit.

No backpacks or bags (other than purses) are allowed inside. There is no place to store bags at Westminster Abbey. This means you must check bags somewhere else in advance.

We used LuggageHero to store our bags. You can use the app or website to find locations that are convenient. We chose to store our bags at the Victoria Station Hotel as it offers storage 24 hours a day. It’s not the fanciest hotel, but for bag storage it is fine. They give you locks for your bags and they are insured. What I like most about LuggageHero is that you only pay for the time that the bags are stored. If you want to try LuggageHero, use the code TEXANHERO to get two free hours. Click here to make a reservation .

You can also store bags at Charing Cross or Victoria train stations but it will be more expensive. While you don’t need a reservation to store bags at the station, you will get priority service if you do. Click here to get more information .

Download the Westminster Abbey App here . It has the same information as the audio tour. You have to turn in the audio tour after Poet’s Corner, but you can keep listening to the app even after your visit. In addition to downloading the app, set up the offline mode before your visit. I wish I had as I had some difficulty with the lack of data service. You can find the option in the hamburger menu on the top left of the app.

Wondering what to wear? While there is no official dress code for Westminster Abbey, they ask that you dress respectfully and men remove hats. It can be a bit chilly inside the Abbey during the winter months so bring your jacket. Additionally, the floor is uneven in places, so please wear practical shoes (i.e. no stilettos).

Due to its historic nature, there are some parts of the Abbey that are not accessible to those that have mobility issues. Those visitors and their carers get free admission and need to enter the Abbey through the North Door.

The Abbey has special tours for visually-impaired visitors and those with hearing difficulties. They also allow you to bring guide dogs, hearing dogs, and assistance dogs.

Get more information about disabled access at the Abbey here .

It depends on how many plaques you want to read. We spent a little more than three hours inside, but there were a few memorials that we still missed and we rushed through the Queen’s Galleries. If you are tight on time and want to see as much of the Abbey as possible then it might be best to do the guided tour.

Children are welcome at Westminster Abbey. Keep in mind it is a place of worship so they need to be respectful. They have a booklet called the Children’s Trail, which is available by the entrance for free, to make the visit more interesting for them.

At the Cellarium, they offer one free meal from the kids’ menu with every adult main meal that is purchased. They also have a free coloring sheet to help keep the kids entertained.

If we were to visit again I think I would pay extra for the guided tour. At Westminster Abbey, these tours are led by vergers, who are not part of the clergy but assist in the ordering of religious services. They know the history and traditions of Westminster Abbey better than anyone.

During our visit, we ran into the guided tour a few times and I overhead a bit. They were definitely getting more inside information than what was provided in the audio tour. Additionally, guided tours get to go into Edward the Confessor Shrine.

I think it would be worth the £7 charge for the tour. (Note: You have to pay admission to Westminster Abbey too). Space on the guided tours is limited to 20 people and commentary is in English only. It lasts about 90 minutes. They only offer a few tours per day, the schedule varies depending on the time of year and day.

You cannot purchase tickets for these verger tours in advance, they must be booked upon arrival at Westminster Abbey.

If you have a whole day to go sightseeing in the area there are several other attractions nearby:

• Parliament Square is just to the north of Westminster Abbey. Walk around and see the 12 statues of British and international political figures.
• Houses of Parliament/Big Ben are located to the east of the Abbey. You can tour the Houses of Parliament. Unfortunately, Big Ben is under renovation. If you want to visit both Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, consider taking this exclusive guided small group tour .
• Jewel Tower is around the corner from Westminster Abbey.  It was built around 1365 to house Edward III’s treasures and was known as the ‘King’s Privy Wardrobe’. It is an English Heritage site, so English Heritage members or those that buy the English Heritage visitor’s pass can visit for free.
• London Eye is the large Ferris wheel with panoramic views across the Thames.

Yes. I was surprised by how much there is to see inside the Abbey. The history is awe-inspiring and will leave you wanting to learn more. It is amazing to think about all the important events that have taken place here from coronations to ceremonies, to weddings, to funerals over the years. I am not sure there is anywhere else where you can see graves and memorials to so many influential people.

Since it’s an indoor attraction, it can be a smart way to escape the bad weather in London during the winter .  Even on a nice day, you won’t mind spending time inside the Abbey.

Don’t let the price tag put you off. I can understand why they charge to go inside this church as I can only imagine the upkeep costs. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site for good reason!

Have you been to Westminster Abbey?

If you found this post helpful, you can join our email community here or follow the blog on Bloglovin here .

• Don’t bring any backpacks or bags other than purses.  Use LuggageHero to store them in advance.
• Download the Westminster Abbey app in advance here .
• Save money on your visit by either buying tickets in advance, taking advantage of Wednesday Lates, or by purchasing the London Pass .

Disclosure: Thanks to Westminster Abbey for providing complimentary tickets so that we could share our experience with our readers.  All opinions are our own.

This post also contains affiliate links. This means we will receive a small commission for some purchases made using links in our blog with no additional cost to you. Please be assured we would not promote any product unless we believe that our readers will also benefit. The commission does not influence the editorial content of this site.

Last Updated on June 14, 2023

About the Author

Anisa  

Anisa is an experienced international traveler with extra pages in her passport and stamps from 41 different countries across 5 continents (and counting). She was born and raised in Texas. After a 13 year stint in NYC, she moved to England to live with her husband.

Session expired

Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.

Sign Up Below to Download our  FREE Travel Planning Checklist

• Tours of London
• Other UK Tours
• London Travel Guide
• Meet our Guides

Everything You Need to Know About Westminster Abbey

Whether you’re planning a visit, researching, or just curious about this amazing church, we have everything you need to know about Westminster Abbey.

Browse the list of questions we hear most often on our London tours and impress people with your knowledge; we won’t spill the beans about where you found out!

If you enjoy reading about this famous Royal Church, we’re sure you’d love one of our private Westminster Abbey Tours , led by a professional Blue Badge Tour Guide.

Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about visiting the Abbey on a guided tour.

First, what is Westminster Abbey?

Westminster Abbey is perhaps the most famous church in the UK noted for its royal weddings, coronations, and burials.

With a long and varied history, the Abbey has functioned as a working religious site for nearly 1000 years. What began as Benedictine Monastery, has become one of the most popular London attractions.

If this brief history has whet your appetite, check out our Westminster Abbey podcast to learn more!

Info for Planning a Visit to Westminster Abbey

Are you allowed to visit westminster abbey.

The Abbey is open to visitors Monday to Saturday, outside of religious events and holidays, like Easter and Christmas. During these religious events, the Abbey is only open to those who wish to worship, but it is free to do so. 

When is Westminster Abbey open to the Public?

The normal Westminster Abbey visiting hours are, Monday – Saturday: 9.30 am – 3.30 pm (last entry).

Is it free to visit Westminster Abbey?

Westminster Abbey is a working church and there is never a charge to enter for worship. The services, including Evensong, which is popular with tourists, are also free to attend. Tourist entry prices are: Adults £29, Children £13, Members of the Abbey – free. Find out more about Westminster Abbey Tickets .

How long does the Evensong last at Westminster Abbey?

The Evensong service lasts about 45 minutes. We would recommend arriving at the West Door of Westminster Abbey about half an hour before the service starts to join the queue of worshipers. This service is free to attend.

Can you take pictures at Westminster Abbey?

Yes, visitors may take personal photographs whilst in Westminster Abbey. Please don’t use flash, selfie sticks, or tripods. You cannot take video recordings. During services, you cannot take photos.

How long do you need at Westminster Abbey?

When visiting as part of our Westminster Abbey Tour , we spend around 90 minutes in the Church. You don’t have to join a tour; you can opt to use the audio guide or stroll through at your own pace. We would recommend planning at least an hour to enjoy the Abbey, as there’s so much to see.

Is there a dress code for Westminster Abbey?

There is no defined dress code when visiting Westminster Abbey. However, visitors are asked to dress in a “respectful manner”. It is worth bearing in mind that it gets quite cold inside the Abbey during winter. 

Are there toilets at Westminster Abbey?

Yes, there are toilets at Westminster Abbey. Located in the Cloisters, they are clearly marked on the map provided to visitors when purchasing entrance tickets. 

How much does it cost to tour Westminster Abbey

Find the entrance fee to Westminster Abbey below

• Adults: £29
• Children: £13
• Members of The Abbey Association: Free

Can I visit Westminster Abbey for private prayer?

Absolutely, you are welcome to visit for private prayer and there is no charge.

Enter through the West door and ask for directions from the Abbey staff.

What time is Sunday service at Westminster Abbey?

Westminster Abbey Sunday services take place at several times through the day, usually 3 in the morning at 8,10 and 11:15 am, followed by three in the afternoon at 3,5 and 6 pm. You can check the exact Sunday service times on the official website .

General Queries About Westminster Abbey

Where in london is westminster abbey.

Westminster Abbey, formally known as the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is located in the City (Borough) of Westminster in central London.

Situated on the west side of Parliament square. You will find the River Thames, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace are within walking distance. It’s definitely worth adding it to your London itinerary

Check out our blog offering a sample London itinerary if you’re feeling overwhelmed with the options.

Is Westminster Abbey worth seeing?

A visit to Westminster Abbey is a must for anybody with an interest in history and/or royalty.

It is also one of the main London attractions and should be on the itinerary of every first-time visitor to London.

We’ve prepared a list of other “Must-See London attractions” so you don’t miss out!

Is Westminster Abbey included in the London Pass?

Yes, Westminster Abbey is included in the London Pass. It’s one of the most popular tourist destinations in London, so it’s a great place to visit with your London Pass.

If you’re curious about the London Pass take a look at our London Pass- Is it worth it article.

What are the top things to see at Westminster Abbey?

There are so many incredible things to see at Westminster Abbey, but here are the top highlights we recommend all tourists explore:

• Coronation Chair
• Tomb of the Unknown Warrior
• The Cosmati Pavement at the High Altar
• Tomb of Elizabeth I
• Henry VII Lady Chapel
• Poets’ Corner

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries

What is the difference between an abbey and a cathedral.

An abbey usually has a monastic background, with an abbot in the leading role (Westminster Abbey was originally home to Benedictine monks). A cathedral is a grand church led by a bishop.

Interestingly, London has its famous Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral, which is located near Victoria Train Station.

What is the difference between Westminster Abbey and Saint Paul’s Cathedral?

Westminster Abbey started as a monastery and has always been linked with Royalty. It is a “Royal Peculiar,” meaning it’s under the jurisdiction of the monarch. St Paul’s Cathedral, on the other hand, is the principal church of the Diocese of London, with a bishop and a dean leading the church. 

Of course, we think both are worth visiting!

Take a look at our St Paul’s Cathedral Guide for more details on this extraordinary London landmark.

Can anyone get married at Westminster Abbey?

Only a very small group of people may celebrate weddings at Westminster Abbey:

• Members of the Royal Family
• Members of the Order of Bath
• Residents of the Abbey precinct

The most recent Royal wedding was that of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011.

Is Westminster Palace the same place as Westminster Abbey?

No, these are two separate buildings, however, they are very close to each other. Westminster Palace is the old official residence of the Kings and Queens of England.

It’s situated next to Westminster Abbey, but it’s a separate building (it has its own church!). You may also know this building as the Houses of Parliament.

Is the lady chapel part of Westminster Abbey?

Yes, the Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the “Lady Chapel”, is a large and impressive structure inside Westminster Abbey. Separated from other parts of this historic church with brass gates and stairs leading up to it in order for security purposes- so that only those who have been granted access may enter.

Will the coronation of King Charles III take place at Westminster Abbey?

Yes, King Charles III’s coronation took place on Saturday the 6th of May 2023. The coronation was a grand state occasion, the first many people in Britain and the World witnessed in their lifetime!

About the History of Westminster Abbey

How old is westminster abbey.

The current church was consecrated in 1269. However, there was a monastery here from 960AD, so it has a long history as a religious site. Only small parts of the cloisters remain from the original building today. 

What is Westminster Abbey famous for?

Westminster Abbey is famous for hosting the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Katherine Middleton in 2011. In September 2022, it hosted the state funeral of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the first state funeral since Sir Winston Churchill in 1965

It is also the venue for Royal Coronations, including that of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and King Charles III in 2023, and for the burials of notable people throughout British history.

What are some lesser-known facts about Westminster Abbey?

-During WW2, some effigies and other treasured artefacts were stored in Piccadilly Tube Station, to ensure their safety during air raids.

-The cloisters contain a simple wooden door, which is actually the oldest door in the country, dating back to the 1050s.

-Visit the Henry VII Lady Chapel to find a statue of Saint Wilgefortis, the bearded lady. She didn’t wish to marry and prayed to become unattractive. Overnight, she grew a beard and her fiancé called off their engagement. A dubious miracle?!

-Whilst in the Lady Chapel, check out the damage to the walls, dating back to WW2!

-Oliver Cromwell was originally buried at Westminster Abbey. However, his body was exhumed several years later. He was posthumously executed by hanging and then beheaded. His head was kept on a spike near the Houses of Parliament as a warning.

-Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most celebrated civil rights leaders in American history. His statue can be seen above the West door, in the Modern Martyrs collection.

Is Westminster Abbey Catholic or Protestant?

What started as a Catholic Monastery converted to the Church of England denomination (Protestant) during the Reformation of the 16th Century. Today, it describes itself as a working and inclusive church celebrating the Christian faith. 

Questions About Who is Buried at Westminster Abbey

Who is buried at westminster abbey.

Many famous Britons, both Royalty and not, are buried at Westminster Abbey. In total, there are around 3,300 tombs scattered across the church.

Some names you might recognise include:

• Charles Dickens
• Issac Newton
• Elizabeth I
• Stephen Hawking
• Georg Fredric Handel

Who is buried standing up in Westminster Abbey?

Ben Johnson, the poet, playwright, and actor, is the only person buried in an upright position. The story goes that he couldn’t afford the space required for a regular horizontal grave, so the Dean at that time agreed to him being buried standing up. 

Is Queen Elizabeth II buried at Westminster Abbey?

The plans in place for Her Late Majesty’s funeral arrangements, were under the name “London Bridge”.

Her Majesties state funeral took place at Westminster Abbey, with her body then being moved to Windsor Castle. A burial spot is reserved in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for Queen Elizabeth II.

Is Mary Queen of Scots buried at Westminister Abbey?

Yes, Mary Queen of Scots is buried at Westminister Abbey. Her remains were moved from Peterborough Cathedral to Westminster Abbey in 1612 on the order of James I.

Her tomb can be found in the South Aisle of the Lady Chapel, opposite her cousin Elizabeth I.

How are bodies buried in Westminster Abbey?

Very few bodies are in individual memorials/tombs in Westminster Abbey; some, however, do lie directly under them.

There are communal vaults below the church and most bodies rest in peace in there. In some cases, bodies were cremated and the ashes placed in the tomb.

Is William Shakespeare buried in Westminster Abbey?

William Shakespeare has a life-size marble memorial within the walls of Westminster Abbey in Poets’ Corner. However, he is actually buried in his home town of Stratford upon Avon, at the local Holy Trinity Church.

How many people are buried in Westminster Abbey?

There are some 3,300 people buried within the walls of Westminster Abbey. These tombs are scattered around the church as well as beneath the floor of the Abbey.

As you might imagine, there is limited space remaining for burials, the most recent burial was that of renowned scientist Steven Hawking.

We hope this answered all of your questions so now you have everything you need to know about Westminster Abbey! When you’re ready to visit, we would love to show you around. Feel free to peruse our London Tours to plan your journey in the city.

If you have any more questions about the Abbey, feel free to contact us .

What’s on at Westminster Abbey

Step into the timeless beauty of Westminster Abbey, an iconic symbol of British history and culture. While exploring this magnificent UNESCO World Heritage Site, be sure to seize the moment and visit the temporary exhibits, offering a rare glimpse into the rich tapestry of royal events and significant historical moments. From captivating displays illuminating the lives of past monarchs to immersive installations that bring centuries of architectural grandeur to life, these limited-time exhibits provide a unique opportunity to delve deeper into the captivating history and sacred traditions of Westminster Abbey.

Monday – Friday: 10.00am – 3.00pm (last entry) Saturday: 9.30am – 3.00pm (last entry) Sunday: Closed

Tickets from £5 (in addition to entrance ticket)

Experience the architectural marvel of the new Weston Tower, an exquisite addition to the historic Westminster Abbey since 1745, designed by Ptolemy Dean. Inspired by the abbey’s Gothic patterns, this star-shaped structure seamlessly blends with the existing Gothic architecture, featuring stone, glass, lead, and oak materials. Inside, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries offer breathtaking views of the Great West Door and Cosmati Pavement, while showcasing a fascinating collection of around 300 objects spanning a millennium of history. From Queen Mary II’s coronation chair to Queen Elizabeth I’s corset and artifacts reflecting worship and daily life at the abbey, immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of Westminster Abbey’s past.

Hidden Highlights: Westminster Abbey

March, april, june 2024.

Tickets £15 (in addition to entrance ticket)

Embark on an exclusive experience that takes you behind the scenes of Westminster Abbey, granting access to areas typically off-limits to the public. Lasting 75 minutes, this immersive experience unveils the lost medieval sacristy, unveiled during a monumental archaeological endeavour. Additionally, you will explore the Florence Nightingale & Nurses’ Chapel, a poignant tribute to nursing professionals who perished during World War II, as well as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, showcasing a wealth of treasures from the abbey. Lastly, step into history within the Jerusalem Chamber, the medieval chamber where Henry IV breathed his last and Henry V ascended the throne. Prepare for an extraordinary journey into the hidden realms of Westminster Abbey’s past.

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Tower booking widget

Searching Availability...

Northern Europe and the British Isles

A Smithsonian magazine special report

History | April/May 2023

The Grand History of Westminster Abbey

The church’s many chambers and crypts hold the story of Britain’s past, present and future

By Peter Ross

Photographs by Jooney Woodward

First light in London. At the top of Westminster Abbey’s northwest tower, Lee Robinson welcomes a new morning in a 1,000-year-old history by performing one of the building’s quieter rituals.

“We do this at 7 in the morning, even in winter,” he says. “When the sun’s starting to rise you get a spectacular view.”

He runs the flag up the pole—the abbey’s coat of arms, a golden cross against bright blue. Flying above the great city, it seems to be in conversation with its fellows on the Houses of Parliament, the Supreme Court and Buckingham Palace, each of which Robinson points out from atop the tower. The flags of London speak a symbolic language. They announce whether the monarch is at home, which head of state is visiting the capital, whether the nation is mourning some death or disaster. Today, all is well, or at least it seems so from 225 feet and 4 inches up. The old stone tower gleams white in the sun as the sirens rise from the street.

Robinson, an amiable man in his mid-50s, is a Westminster Abbey beadle. It is an archaic word—most people, hearing his job title, might expect a frock coat and cocked hat—but it simply means that he is part of the security team. Within the abbey are buried thousands of illustrious dead: royals, nobles, writers, musicians, scientists, politicians—the great Britons of Great Britain. But it is the living, the abbey’s 275 staff, who look after the building for present and future generations.

How you see Westminster Abbey will depend upon who you are. To the beadles, this is a workplace; to the tourist, an Instagrammable spectacle; to the pilgrim, a place of prayer. It is a site of royal power and  a major tourist attraction, a historic monument  and a living church, in which all are welcome to worship. On May 6, it will fulfill its vocation—the coronation of a king. Charles III will be the 40th monarch to be crowned there, the first being William the Conqueror on Christmas Day, 1066.

Thinking too deeply about such things can bring on a sort of vertigo, a feeling of centuries dropping away. Those who work here say that once they walk into the building their temporal perspective shifts. There is human time and there is abbey time. “You leave the here and now behind and go into another dimension,” is how one staff member puts it.

Westminster Abbey was already ancient when New York was New Amsterdam; indeed, it is older than Amsterdam itself. It is much older than Germany, much older than Italy, a little older than France, and not much younger than England. It was founded around 960 as a Benedictine monastery on what was then a marshy delta, Thorney Island, formed where two streams of the Tyburn met the river Thames. There is now no sign that you are standing on an island, the Tyburn having long since been culverted and the land developed.

Edward the Confessor, the Anglo-Saxon king who was later made a saint, had a Romanesque church constructed on the site, beside his palace. It was consecrated on December 28, 1065, but the king was too ill to attend, died a few days later and was buried in the abbey. His successor, Harold Godwinson, ruled for nine months until his defeat and death at the Battle of Hastings. The Norman victor, William the Conqueror, made sure to have his coronation in the abbey, seeking the legitimacy of association with Edward. Ever since, the abbey’s fame and meaning have derived from these twin roles as royal burial place and crowning place, a church of bones and thrones.

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine now for just $19.99

This article is a selection from the April/May 2023 issue of Smithsonian magazine

Few traces of Edward the Confessor's abbey remain, but one can be found in a dim passageway between the east cloister and the chapter house. There are always a few tourists gathered round, taking pictures, chuckling as they translate the information panel into their own tongues.

“A porta mais antiga do Reino Unido!” “La plus vieille porte du Royaume-Uni!” “La puerta más antigua de Gran Bretaña!”

Britain’s oldest door, the sign says. It looks as rough and solid as you would want. Five oak planks, iron-bound, it was made in the 1050s for a church that is no longer there and repurposed for the present building. The wood from which it was built began to grow in Essex when England was not yet England, when it was still a patchwork of kingdoms. There is something comic about it, a touch of Monty Python —hence the affectionate laughter of visitors—but it is also a ghost and a portal into the past.

The abbey we see now is largely the creation of Henry III, who in the 13th century had Edward’s church demolished and a new one built in the Gothic style. This spans 530 feet from the Great West Door to the far end of the Lady Chapel. Its interior covers 32,000 square feet. The grounds include ancient cloisters, homes of clergy and senior staff, and three gardens. The towers were completed in the mid-18th century; a beadle rising in the morning to raise the flag must first climb 315 steps.

But figures and dates cannot convey what it is like to wander within, amid the almost psychedelic geometry of vault and arch, where each footstep seems to bring you to another chapel and tomb. The abbey is dramatic in two senses. First, aesthetic: The “architectural equivalent to Shakespeare at his most swaggering,” wrote the critic Ian Nairn. Then there is the drama contained inside: the strut and fret of history’s great men and women who have passed across this stage.

If you have seen or thought about Westminster Abbey lately, it will most likely have been in connection with the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II , held there on September 19, 2022, before her coffin was borne by hearse to Windsor Castle. The ceremony, broadcast to a global audience, including 29.2 million viewers in the United Kingdom and 11.4 million viewers in the United States, showed the abbey in all its somber magnificence. The great vault of the nave. The gold of the high altar. The black and white marble of the quire floor, seen from a camera so high above that it gave the impression of a God’s-eye view. Abbey staff had been planning the funeral for more than ten years.

“We all knew that we would one day have to take this service,” the Very Reverend David Hoyle told me. “But we were all really startled when the moment came.”

Hoyle is in his mid-60s, with short white hair and dark-framed spectacles. He is the dean of Westminster, the abbey’s most senior priest. I had seen him on television in rich, colorful vestments, but here, in the book-lined study of the Deanery, his home within the abbey grounds, he was wearing a black shirt and white collar, and seemed more academic than priest.

The dean had led the queen’s funeral service. His expression, for those of us watching, was hard to read, and I wondered what had been going through his mind.

As he sat near the altar, he recalled, he was highly conscious that here in front of him was the body of Her Majesty, and there behind him were the tombs and remains of many of her royal predecessors going all the way back to Edward the Confessor nearly 1,000 years earlier. This is the proper place, he thought, to carry out the ritual that would stitch Elizabeth II into the tapestry of history.

“But the one moment that really took me by surprise,” he continued, “was at the very end of the service, when I had to step down and walk past the coffin. That was a bit of a hammer-blow. I thought, ‘I will never see you again.’ I didn’t know her well, but I did see the queen more than a lot of people do, and I felt a great affection for her. That was a very personal moment.”

It is this confluence of scales, human and historic, that gives the abbey its particular atmosphere. How is a building like this kept alive? By people. By the dutiful care of those who work there. The clergy who hold services from morning till evening, and the cleaners who dust the tombs of monarchs who are now dust. The gardeners who tend this peaceful oasis in central London. The curators, conservators, choristers. The worshipers and visitors who bring money, but also—perhaps as importantly—loving attention. “I have to be seen to be believed,” the queen famously remarked. This is also true of Westminster Abbey, a building that is powerful and meaningful to the extent that it impresses the public gaze. It’s all very well being awesome, but you do need people to awe.

One morning, the sun shining bright through stained glass, I walked up the nave, through the quire and past the high altar, then climbed a few wooden stairs into St. Edward the Confessor’s Chapel, where I met the woman who cleans the tombs. Hannah Mills is in her mid-30s. She was wearing a headlamp to help her see dust and cobwebs on the gilt-bronze effigy of Richard II that, since the end of the 14th century, has lain upon his grave. These she removed with a goat-hair brush and a small vacuum cleaner slung around one shoulder. Dust is not just an aesthetic issue. It attracts moisture, which can lead to corrosion. However, the act of dusting can itself be damaging, and therefore the small team of “conservation housekeepers” go easy with their brushes, use no cleaning products and keep gentleness as their watchword. Mills pointed out the curls of the king’s hair, and the stags and sunbeams that decorate his robe—“the finest examples of craft in the abbey,” she said. “You can lose yourself in the patterns and designs.”

Edward the Confessor’s Chapel has his shrine at its center. Around this are the tombs of several kings and queens. Mills dusts in here once a week. She begins with Richard II before moving on to Edward III (“He’s got a lovely beard”), Philippa of Hainault, Eleanor of Castile and Henry III. If she has time, she will attend to Henry V. He is made of wood, heavily varnished, so can be gone over with a cloth. About once a year she will go up a ladder for Anne of Bohemia, the first wife of Richard II, who died of plague in 1394 and is rather hard to reach.

One needn’t be a monarchist or a Christian to sense what the dean calls a “spiritual electricity” inside the Confessor’s chapel and elsewhere in the abbey. This is felt most readily at moments of quiet. Best of all is morning worship, as I found when I attended Holy Communion at 8 a.m. in St. Faith’s, a narrow chapel off the south transept. There were only a dozen of us in the congregation. One was a tall young man wearing a crown who, I had heard, believed himself to be King Richard I. In that very English way, everyone pretended not to notice. The priest got on with the service. Candles flickered on the altar, wafers and wine were taken into the body, and it was pleasant to think that in the heart of the 21st-century city this ancient ritual remained part of the pulse.

It was midafternoon. The abbey had closed to the public. A distinguished visitor was expected. Police and sniffer dogs had made their search, and now senior clergy lined up in scarlet cassocks, a welcoming party, while the dean, also in red, stood outside the western entrance to greet his guest. A shriek of whistles announced that the motorcade was on its way. Then the sleek black car pulled up and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, dressed in a black coat, stepped out. He was in London as part of the first state visit hosted by King Charles. Such visits routinely include a tour of Westminster Abbey. U.S. President Donald Trump observed the tradition, as did Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon before him.

The abbey can thus be seen as part of the soft power of the British state. Yet despite this, it is entirely independent and receives no funding from the Crown, the government or the Church of England. Closed for stretches of 2020 and 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and deprived of overseas tourist income, at one point the abbey was losing a million pounds a month; staff numbers were reduced by more than a fifth. Even with the easing of lockdown restrictions, visits remained significantly down. Things only improved in spring of 2022, and, following the queen’s funeral, numbers are back up to around pre-pandemic levels. “It’s not a solution I would ever have wished for,” Hoyle told me. Still, his relief was palpable. “I can begin to look forward to a day when the abbey is no longer in crisis.”

Having shaken hands with a line of priests, Ramaphosa stood at the foot of a black slab set into the floor: the grave of the Unknown Warrior. The anonymous body interred here was brought in November 1920 from a battlefield in France. Now a military attaché handed Ramaphosa a floral wreath, which he laid on the dark marble. The Unknown Warrior is intended to stand for those who fell “For God, for king and country,” as the inscription has it, but has come to represent all the fallen, of whatever side, and the human tragedy of war.

Here, in the abbey, the dead far outnumber the living. There is capacity for 2,000 visitors, but there are approximately 3,300 known burials and many more from early times that were unrecorded. “It is, indeed, the empire of death,” wrote Washington Irving, “his great shadowy palace where he sits in state mocking at the relics of human glory and spreading dust and forgetfulness on the monuments of princes.”

And not only princes. To walk in the abbey is to walk upon the graves of public figures from across the centuries. Slabs are everywhere set into the floor, often in clusters of disciplines. Scientists are grouped at the far end of the nave, by the north side of the choir screen. Isaac Newton died in 1727 and was buried there. His Latin epitaph reads, “Hic depositum est quod mortale fuit”—Here lies what was mortal of—“Isaaci Newtoni.” The ashes of the physicist Stephen Hawking were, in 2018, interred just a few steps away, beneath a slab carved with the English translation of Newton’s inscription, the two men having been Lucasian professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge 300 years apart. How remarkable that those whose minds probed the farthest corners of the universe should rest in the same few feet of earth. What goes up must come down, as Newton surely knew.

Poets’ Corner, in the south transept, is famous as the burial place of writers. Geoffrey Chaucer, who died in 1400, established the trend, though the best-known grave is that of Charles Dickens. He did not want to be there. His preference had been to be buried without fuss in a country churchyard near his home in Kent, but a rousing editorial in the London Times —“very few are more worthy than Charles Dickens of such a home”—led his family to seek a place in Westminster Abbey. He was buried on June 14, 1870. The grave, left open for three days, filled with flowers as the public paid their respects. “I never knew an author’s death to cause such general mourning,” wrote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow from Cambridge, Massachusetts. “It is no exaggeration to say that this whole country is stricken with grief.”

The burials in the abbey span so great a period of time that strange associations develop. Henry V is an English hero on account of his victory over the French at Agincourt in 1415. His eve-of-battle speech, as imagined by Shakespeare—“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers”—was the emotional centerpiece of Laurence Olivier’s 1944 film of the play. The ashes of Olivier were interred in the abbey in 1991; at the memorial service, a recording of the famous speech was played, filling the church with the actor’s glorious bellicosity and echoing over the tomb of King Henry, whose valor inspired the words that now rattled his bones.

Shakespeare himself was not buried in the abbey. His grave is in his native Stratford-upon-Avon. But his friend and rival Ben Jonson is here. So poor was the dramatist at the time of his death that he was buried upright, as he could not afford the floor space. Different versions of the story state that the cost was met by either King Charles I or the dean of Westminster. The small gray marker, on which Jonson’s name is misspelled, is shuffled over, unnoticed, by crowds lining up for evensong. I was shown the spot by a marshal in a red cloak. He introduced himself as Howard and said, “What I love about this place is that there are pockets of magic everywhere.”

Where to find other pockets? Try the abbey gardens. The largest of these, College Garden, goes back to the abbey’s earliest days. Here the Benedictines grew vegetables, kept orchards for apples and plums, and cultivated plants essential for nutrition and medicine. There have been no monks at Westminster since the mid-16th century. These days, College Garden is a peaceful sanctuary in the busiest part of the capital, enclosed by a 14th-century wall. It is open to abbey visitors but not well known. “My primary objective in life is to try and make people realize how important this garden is,” said Jan Pancheri, the abbey’s head gardener, as we took a walk one cold morning. She showed me the herb garden that she has created in homage to the monastic past: rue and rosemary, marjoram and mint, hyssop and sweet cicely. She has a strong feeling, especially in winter, for the presence of the brethren who once tended this ground; when, in the course of their work, she and the other gardeners uncover what they take to be the bones of monks, they dig them back into the earth.

The garden itself feels like a presence to her, a kind of consciousness. She began working here in 1999, not long after losing both of her parents, and the gardens have been a comfort. “When I come to work in the morning, it’s like a pair of green arms coming to welcome you,” she said.

Far above the gardens, in an upper part of the abbey known as the triforium, is another pocket—the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries. Here are objects of powerful strangeness: the funeral effigies of nobles and royals. The early ones were made from wood, and later from wax. They make an impression very different from the durable bronze or stone effigies on the tombs in the church below, and they served a different purpose. Beginning in the 14th century, immediately following the death of a royal, a carved likeness of the late king or queen was dressed in a wig and finery and processed on top of their coffin through the streets of London to the church. Until the early 19th century these figures were sometimes left to lie or stand by the tomb of the person they represented. Twenty have survived: 11 of wax, 8 of wood, 1 of plaster. Vanessa Simeoni, the head conservator, told me that if the abbey suffered a fire like the one that engulfed Notre-Dame in 2019, these effigies are what she would rush to save: “They are so rare and incredible.”

Most of these people are buried downstairs, but up here they enjoy a curious afterlife. The earliest figures, naked and missing limbs, some suffering gouges or pocked with what look like the holes of beetle larvae, bring to mind eerie tales of automata or the leathery agonies of bog bodies. The later effigies, dressed in silk and velvet, have such an unsettling fairy-tale quality that one finds oneself grateful for comic touches. Frances Stuart, the Duchess of Richmond, commissioned her effigy in her will. It is exhibited alongside her beloved parrot, an African grey. Stuart died in 1702, the bird soon afterward, and while the noblewoman is made of wax, her pet is stuffed; X-rays have shown that its skeleton is complete. Virginia Woolf, in 1928, seemed much taken with this parrot and thought it an ironical comment on the narcissism of its owner, who, she wrote, “was beautiful once and had lovers beyond belief.”

“And here it is,” said the dean.

Hoyle and I were standing by the Coronation Chair. This is where monarchs are crowned. It was made in 1300. Once it would have been golden, but now much of the wood is exposed, and it is badly carved with graffiti from the 18th and 19th centuries. This vandalism was carried out by boys from Westminster School and others who had access. The chair was not always regarded as an almost sacred relic. Vergers used to charge visitors a fee to allow them to sit in it. Some, clearly, found it an easeful spot. “P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800” is carved into the seat.

Today the chair is kept secure behind glass near the Great West Door, but for the coronation it will be brought to the heart of the abbey and placed on the Cosmati Pavement—the name by which the area of swirling, kaleidoscopic flooring in front of the high altar is known. The ancient pavement is 24 feet and 10 inches square and made from 90,000 pieces of glass and hand-cut stone, much of it recycled from Roman mosaics. It features Latin inscriptions that calculate the date of the end of the world. Chair and pavement were made within 30 years of each other, but it has been a long time since they touched. Badly damaged, the pavement was covered with carpet in the 19th century. In recent years, though, it has been conserved and restored. The Cosmati has a circle of pink onyx at its center, resembling a planet seen from space, and it is likely that during the forthcoming ceremony the chair will stand on or near this. It will be a bringing together of objects of spiritual and temporal power: the stone, the chair, the king, the crown.

At 73, on the death of his mother, Charles became the oldest person to accede to the British throne. He was a child when he saw her crowned. Now it is his turn. This coronation will take place in a very different nation from 1953. Then: a young woman becoming queen in an atmosphere of postwar renewal and optimism. Now: an old man inheriting a kingdom that feels disunited, weary and worn, its gilding coming off.

It will, no doubt, still be a spectacular occasion. The abbey will look magnificent. The crowds outside will cheer. Viewers at home will watch the coverage with whatever mixture of voyeurism, skepticism and patriotism reflects their attitude. But can it really be a unifying event? Britain, like America, has its culture wars, its partisan divides. Shared national institutions—the church and monarchy among them—no longer feel quite so shared.

“This is the gathering place for the nation and the Commonwealth,” Hoyle had told me as we sat in his Deanery. “But the abbey as a convening space is a much more complicated thing than it used to be. We have a weaponized political discourse at the moment. People define themselves largely by their associations and their dislikes. If you’re the dean of Westminster Abbey and your job is to invite people into this place to find their place in the nation’s long story, that’s getting really difficult.”

Evensong, the day’s final service, is always busy. The choristers stand in their stalls wearing white surplices over red cassocks and white ruffs. None of the boys is older than 13, yet they do not seem like children. They are vessels for sound. There is so much that is solid in the abbey: the tombs, the architecture, the effigies of wax and wood. But the music, heard every day here for centuries, cannot be touched or held. It happens and then it is gone, but somehow it gets into the stones.

The boys are boarders at the choir school. There are, on average, eight choral services a week, plus daily rehearsals. Now the boys sing the Magnificat, the song of Mary, their voices rising to the ribs of the vault. Evensong is an opportunity, whether you are a believer or not, to experience the numinous. A chance to leave behind for a time the quarrels and weary cares of the present.

The sky grows dark behind the windows, and I think of Daisy McDonnell, a marshal who had shown me around earlier. She is only 29. A little girl when Princess Diana had her funeral here, a teenager when Prince William and Kate Middleton got married, not yet 30 when the queen died, but she is already part of abbey time, caught up in that grand sweep. “The abbey holds so much history, and continues to make history,” she had said, shrugging. “It’s just what we do.”

There is an intense feeling here of compressed narrative and time. An oak is axed in an Essex forest. It is made into a door for a church, then another church. Monks and priests pass through; monarchs pass by and pass on. The church is on an island, then it is not. It is part of a great city. It survives a Great Fire. Enemy aircraft fly overhead and drop their bombs. London is in flames again, but it survives, as it did centuries before. Elizabeth II is crowned, mourned, and the crown passes on. Then, as now, the people who work here are custodians. They inherit this place in each generation and will bequeath their duties to whomever comes next. The story of Westminster Abbey began with a felled oak. It has not ended yet.

Get the latest History stories in your inbox?

Click to visit our Privacy Statement .

Peter Ross | READ MORE

Peter Ross' new book is A Tomb With a View: The Stories and Glories of Britain's Graveyards .

Jooney Woodward | READ MORE

Jooney Woodward, a former archivist at  Vogue , is an award-winning portrait photographer based in London.

Tourist Attractions: Westminster Abbey

Westminster abbey is officially called the collegiate church of st peter at westminster and doesn't operate as a regular church reporting to the hierarchy within the church of england. the church is directly responsible to the sovereign having been designated with a special 'royal peculiar in 1560..

How old is Westminster Abbey?

The origins of the Abbey date back to the 960s or early 970s when Saint Dunstan and King Edgar installed a community of Benedictine monks on the site. Between 1042 and 1052, the Abbey, named St Peter's Abbey, was rebuild by Edward the Confessor to provide himself with a Royal burial church. Completed around 1060 it was the first church in England to be built in a Romanesque style. It was consecrated on the 28th December 1065 a week before Edward's death, and who was subsequently buried in the church. 

Who built Westminster Abbey?

Construction on the Westminster Abbey we see today began in 1245 by Henry III who had selected it as the site for his burial. The Abbey became the coronation site of Norman Kings, though none were buried there until Henry III. The church was rebuilt in an Anglo-French Gothic style as a shrine to venerate King Edward the Confessor. Work on Westminster Abbey continued between 1245 and 1517 with it being completed by architect Henry Yevele. In 1503 Henry VII added a Perpendicular style chapel which was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1540 Henry VIII gave Westminster Abbey cathedral status which would spare it from the destruction or dissolution. 

How tall is Westminster Abbey?

Nicholas Hawksmoor was the mastermind behind building the two Western Towers at Westminster Abbey which were constructed between 1722 and 1745 and which were inspired by a Gothic Revival design. The walls and floors of the Abbey are made from purbeck marble. Westminster Abbey is 69m (225 feet) high, with a width of 26m (85 feet) and a floor area of 32,000 square feet. 

Are Coronations held at Westminster Abbey? 

Since the coronations of both King Harold and William the Conqueror in 1066, Westminster Abbey has seen every English and British monarch crowned there (except Edward V and Edward VII who were never crowned). The King Edward's chair is the throne on which English and British sovereigns are crowned. The chair is now located within the Abbey in the St George's Chapel near the West Door and has been used for every coronation since 1308. Since 1066 there have been 39 Coronations. 

The most recent Coronation at Westminster Abbey was that of Queen Elizabeth II who was crowned Queen at the age of 25 on the 2nd June 1953 after the death of her father King George VI on the 6th February 1952. The Coronation took place more than a year after King George VI's death because of the tradition that holding such a festival is inappropriate during the period of mourning that follows the death of a monarch. During the service Queen Elizabeth II took and subscribed an oath to govern the peoples according to their respective laws and customs. 

This was the first coronation to be televised with 27 million people in the UK alone watching it, plus millions from overseas.  

How many Royal Weddings have there been at Westminster Abbey?

To date there have been 17 Royal Weddings at Westminster Abbey, which in chronological order are:

11 November 1100:  King Henry I of England was married to Matilda of Scotland

4 January 1243:  Richard, Earl of Cornwall (later King of Germany), brother of King Henry III of England, to Sanchia of Provence (his second wife). Sanchia was sister of Eleanor of Provence, Henry III's queen.

9 April 1269:  Edmund of Crouchback, 1st Earl of Leicester and Lancaster, son of King Henry III was married to Lady Aveline de Forz

30 April 1290:  Joan of Acre, daughter of King Edward I, was married to the 7th Earl of Gloucester

8 July 1290:  Margaret of England, daughter of King Edward I, was married to John II, son of Duke of Brabant

20 January 1382:  King Richard II of England was married to Anne of Bohemia

18 January 1486:  King Henry VII of England was married to Elizabeth of York

27 February 1919:  Princess Patricia of Connaught was married to Capt the Hon Alexander Ramsay

28 February 1922:  The Princess Mary, daughter of King George V, was married to Viscount Lascelles

26 April 1923:  The Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), second son of King George V, was married to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later to become Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother)

29 November 1934:  The Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V, was married to Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark

20 November 1947:  The Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II), elder daughter of King George VI, was married to the Duke of Edinburgh (who was Lt Philip Mountbatten until that morning)

6 May 1960:  The Princess Margaret, second daughter of King George VI, was married to Antony Armstrong-Jones (later Earl of Snowdon)

24 April 1963:  Princess Alexandra of Kent was married to the Hon Angus Ogilvy

14 November 1973:  The Princess Anne, only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, was married to Captain Mark Phillips

23 July 1986:  The Prince Andrew, Duke of York, second son of Queen Elizabeth II, was married to Miss Sarah Ferguson

29 April 2011:  Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, was married to Miss Catherine Middleton

Who is buried at Westminster Abbey?

Since 1760 most Kings and Queens have been buried in Westminster Abbey with over 3,300 people being either buried or commemorated there. Included in this is 17 British monarchs and influential figures including Isaac Newton, Edward the Confessor and Charles Dickens.   

What is the Chapter House?

Built between 1245 and 1253, the Chapter House was built at the same time as the east parts of the Abbey under Henry III. It's built in a Geometrical Gothic style with an octagonal crypt below. A pier of eight shafts carries the vaulted ceiling with the sides including the remains of 14th Century paintings and numerous stone benches. The house includes an original mid-13th-century tiled pavement with a door which is believed to be the oldest in England having been built in 1050. The Chapter House was originally used in the 13th Century by Benedictine monks for daily meetings, with it later becoming a meeting place of the King's Great Council.  

Is there an Organ in Westminster Abbey?

Installed in 1937 by Harrison & Harrison for the Coronation of King George VI, the Westminster Abbey organ includes 84 speaking stops, four manuals and five-manual pipework installments from the previous organ built by William Hill in 1848. The current Organist and Master of the Choristers is James O'Donnell who has held this position since 2000. 

Is Westminster School part of Westminster Abbey?

Within the Westminster Abbey there is Westminster School, a boarding secondary school and sixth form established in 1560. Also within the Abbey is the Westminster Abbey Choir School which is a boarding school for 8 to 13 year old boys, established in 1560 as well. The choirboys who sing the services within the Abbey are educated as Westminster Abbey Choir School.

How to tour Westminster Abbey?

Westminster Abbey is open to visitors on selected days on the month of June. Please visit their website for more information. 

It is not possible to enter the Abbey for worship or as a visitor with large or bulky items of luggage. This includes suitcases (including those on wheels) and large rucksacks.