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