About Westminster Abbey in London, England
Officially named the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, it was founded in 960 AD as a Benedictine monastery, with the current structure largely built between the 13th and 16th centuries. It is known for its Gothic architecture and role as a site for royal coronations, weddings, and burials.
Westminster Abbey is not Catholic…although originally Catholic, it officially became Protestant in 1560, when Queen Elizabeth I re-established it as a Collegiate Church and Royal Peculiar, an Anglican institution directly responsible to the sovereign. This happened after it had been briefly restored to Catholic Benedictine monks under Queen Mary I following the abbey’s initial suppression and conversion to a Protestant cathedral under Henry VIII in the 1530s
We include Westminster Abbey on The Catholic Travel Guide due its Catholic Church roots and a great deal of Catholic history took place here. The Catholic equivalent, Westminster Cathedral, is a separate building located about a 15-minute walk away.
Westminster Abbey is the official church of the British monarch and has been the site of coronations, royal weddings, and burials since 1066. The Catholic equivalent, Westminster Cathedral, is a separate building located about a 15-minute walk away.
The Gothic design features pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and the famous Henry VII Chapel with its fan-vaulted ceiling.
It’s a symbol of British history, hosting state events and housing artifacts like the 13th-century Cosmati Pavement, laid down in 1268 by order of Henry III who had started re-building Edward the Confessor’s Abbey in the new Gothic style in 1245. The workmen came from Rome, with a man called Odoricus at their head. The pavement belongs to a type of inlaid stone decoration known as Cosmati work, after one of the families of craftsmen who specialized in it and the technique is called opus sectile, ‘cut work’. This differs from ancient Roman and earlier medieval mosaic work which consists of square stones of equal size. It is also abstract in design. There is an even bigger contrast with the other great 13th century pavement at the Abbey, that in the Chapter House which is a tiled floor in the English tradition.
Click here for a video of the Cosmati Pavement in Westminster Abbey (external link…this page will stay open).
The Coronation Chair, used since 1308, is a highlight. Since 1066, nearly all English and British monarchs (39 coronations) have been crowned here, including King Charles III in 2023. It has hosted 16 royal weddings, like Prince William and Kate Middleton’s in 2011, and funerals, such as Queen Elizabeth II’s in 2022. Over 3,300 people are buried or commemorated here, including monarchs (e.g., Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots), poets (Poets’ Corner with Chaucer, Dickens, Tennyson), and scientists (Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin).
Photography is restricted inside. Guided tours or audio guides are available.
Traveling to Westminster Abbey in London, England:
Westminster Abbey is located near the Houses of Parliament, accessible via Westminster Tube station.
Address: 20 Dean’s Yard, London, SW1P 3PA
Click here for the official website of Westminster Abbey in London, England.