WESTMINSTER ABBEY
See Also: CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHURCHES; CORONATIONS; GARDENS & PLANTS
Westminster Abbey Gardens; ST PAUL's CATHEDRAL; WATER SUPPLY The Great Conduit
Thorney
Island was an isolated island that was surrounded by the Thames, Tyburn Brook,
and a marsh. On it, King Edward the
Confessor founded Westminster Abbey as a Benedictine institution. Its building was consecrated in 1065.
During
the Reformation the monastery was dissolved.
However, the building's royal associations enabled it to metamorphose
into the Collegiate Church of St Peter, a royal peculiar .1 As such, it operates under the jurisdiction
of a Dean and Chapter and is subject only to the sovereign. Some of its revenues were transferred to St
Paul's Cathedral (hence the phrase to rob Peter to pay Paul ).
The
towers (c.1739) at the building's western end were late additions. They were designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor.
Location:
The Sanctuary, Westminster Precincts, SW1P 3PA (orange, turquoise)
See
Also: CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHURCHES St Margaret's Westminster
Website:
www.westminster-abbey.org
1. During the Reformation the materials from which numerous religious buildings
had been constructed were cannibalised.
The Abbey could easily have disappeared through this fate.
Annual Services
Every
October a service is held for the judiciary at the Abbey. They attend in their wigs and robes.
Website:
www.westminster-abbey.org/worship-music/services-times/special-services
The Chapter House
During
the reign of King Edward III (1312-1377) the House of Commons separated from
the House of Lords. The Lower Chamber
took to holding its meetings in the Abbey's Chapter House. In 1547 the body moved to St Stephen's Chapel
in the Palace of Westminster. From c.1550
until 1865 the Chapter House served as a state archive.
See
Also: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
Website:
www.westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/history/chapter-house
Deans
See
Also: THE CANNIBAL DEAN
Website:
www.westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/history/abbots-deans
Francis
Atterbury
Francis
Atterbury was an early 18thC Dean of Westminster who embraced the
Jacobite political cause. As such, the
space within the Abbey that he designated for his own family's burials was at
the West Door of it, as far from Kings and Kaisers, as the space will admit
of .
Website:
www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commenorations/francis-atterbury
The Lady Chapel of Henry VII
Website:
www.westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/history/lady-chapel
David
Backhouse 2024