Westminster Abbey
- About the place
- Visitors information
History
An architectural masterpiece of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, Westminster Abbey also presents a unique pageant of British history - the Confessor’s Shrine, the tombs of Kings and Queens, and countless memorials to the famous and the great. It has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066 and for numerous other Royal occasions. Today it is still a church
dedicated to regular worship and to the celebration of great events in the life of the nation.
Neither a cathedral nor a parish church, Westminster Abbey is a “royal peculiar” under the jurisdiction of a Dean and Chapter, subject only to the Sovereign. Nine hundred years ago, Westminster Abbey was a Benedictine Monastery, offering the traditional Benedictine hospitality to its visitors. Today, it has to seek new ways of offering a hospitable welcome to the 3 1/2 million visitors who come to it every year from all parts of the world. An extensive ministry of preaching and teaching, within the Abbey itself and in the wider world, is centred here. Concern for society and for individuals has taken on a new importance in the complex world of the 20th century. At Westminster Abbey we put prayer at the centre of everything we do. It is just one reason why tourists are so welcome here and why they value the calm and space the Abbey now provides for reflection and prayer. For the greater part of every day, a priest or religious sister is available to any of our visitors for consultation or counsel, or a priest for confession. Every hour we ask all our visitors to keep silence for a brief act of prayer for the world and its needs and we invite you to share in this.
Most of our visitors can spend only a short time in the Abbey, but those who are able to share in our worship and prayer make a most valuable contribution to the historic witness of this great church. Two side chapels are always available for private prayer. These are St George’s Chapel, just inside the Great West Door and St. Faith’s Chapel, with access from the East Cloister.
Architecture
The present building dates mainly from the reign of King Henry III. In 1245 he pulled down the eastern part of the 11th century Abbey, which had been founded by King Edward the Confessor and dedicated in 1065. Earlier in Henry’s reign, on 16 May 1220, he had laid the foundation stone for a new Lady Chapel at the east end of the Confessor’s church, but as the Abbey’s own financial resources were not sufficient to continue the rebuilding of the whole church at this time no other work was carried out.
It is said that Henry’s devotion to St Edward later prompted him to build a more magnificent church in the newest Gothic style, and also to provide a new shrine for the Saint, near to whom Henry himself could be buried. The three master masons supervising the work were Henry of Reyns, John of Gloucester and Robert of Beverley. It is not known if Henry was English or French but the architect was greatly influenced by the new cathedrals at Reims, Amiens and Chartres, borrowing the ideas of an apse with radiating chapels and using the characteristic Gothic features of pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, rose windows and flying buttresses. The design is based on the continental system of geometrical proportion, but its English features include single rather than double aisles and a long nave with wide projecting transepts. The Abbey has the highest Gothic vault in England (nearly 102 feet) and it was made to seem higher by making the aisles narrow. The Englishness is also apparent in the elaborate mouldings of the main arches, the lavish use of polished Purbeck marble for the columns and the overall sculptural decoration. The east-west axis was determined by the existing position of the Lady Chapel.
A spacious area between the high altar and the beginning of the quire was necessary to provide a ‘theatre’ where coronations could take place. The stonework (which came from Caen in France and Reigate in Surrey), the sculptured roof bosses and the other carvings would have been brightly coloured and the wall arcades may have been decorated in vermilion and gold. The walls were adorned with fine paintings, and two, depicting St Thomas and St Christopher, were rediscovered in the 1930s. Some of the original colour on the censing angels in the south transept was discovered at about the same time. Brilliant ruby and sapphire glass, with heraldic shields set in a grisaille (or grey monochrome) pattern, filled the windows. The chapel screens and tombs added to the display of colour. By 1269 the apse, radiating chapels, transepts and choir were complete and the new shrine received the bones of St Edward on 13 October.
When Henry III died in 1272 only one bay of the nave beyond the choir screen had been completed. The old Norman nave remained attached to the far higher Gothic building for over a century until more money became available at the end of the fourteenth century. The western section of the nave was then carried on by Abbot Nicholas Litlyngton using money bequeathed by Cardinal Simon Langham (Litlyngton’s predecessor as abbot) and work slowly progressed for nearly a hundred and fifty years. It was probably Litlyngton who insisted that the general design of Henry III’s masons should be followed thus giving the Abbey great architectural unity. Master mason Henry Yevele made only minor alterations in the architectural design but it can be seen on closer inspection that the diaper (or rosette) decoration on the spandrels of the arches was discontinued in the nave, and other details are not as elaborate as the older work. In the bay of the nave just to the west of the quire screen can be seen the junction of the old and new work.
In 1422 Henry V was buried at the eastern end of St Edward’s Chapel. In accordance with his will a lavishly sculptured chantry chapel was built over the tomb, with two turret staircases leading to an altar above. The designer was John Thirske, who was probably also responsible for the carved altar screen in the Confessor’s chapel added at this period, showing representations of events in the life of St Edward. Abbot John Islip, died 1532, added his own Jesus chapel off the north ambulatory and finally completed the nave vaulting and glazed the west window, but the top parts of the west towers remained unfinished.
The next great addition to the Abbey was the construction of a magnificent new Lady Chapel by Henry VII between 1503 and 1519 to replace the 13th century chapel. The Perpendicular architecture here is in total contrast to the rest of the Abbey. No accounts for this building have been found but it is thought that the architects were Robert Janyns and William Vertue. It has been called “one of the most perfect buildings ever erected in England” and “the wonder of the world”. Henry spent lavish sums on its decoration. The glory of the chapel is its delicately carved fan vaulted roof, with hanging pendants. These are constructed on half-concealed transverse arches. All around the chapel are Tudor emblems such as the rose and portcullis, and nearly one hundred statues of saints still remain in niches around the walls. The original jewel-like stained glass by Bernard Flower has, however, disappeared.
The last phase of building was the completion in 1745 of the West Towers in Portland stone, to a design by Nicholas Hawksmoor, the Abbey’s Surveyor.
Attractions
The Sanctuary is the heart of the Abbey, where the High Altar stands. The altar and reredos above it were designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1867. The Last Supper mosaic is by Antonio Salviati. On the altar are two candlesticks bought with money bequeathed by a serving maid called Sarah Hughes in the 17th century. The inscription along the top reads “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ” (from the book of Revelation). There are four large statues of Moses, St Peter, St Paul and King David flanking the altar and the doors leading into St Edward’s chapel, which is immediately behind the screen. Also in this area is the Abbey Lectern, given in memory of the missionary William Carey.
In front of the High Altar is another of the Abbey’s treasures - a marble pavement dating from 1268. The method of its decoration is known as Cosmati work, after the Italian family who developed the technique of inlaying intricate designs, made up of small pieces of coloured marble, into a plain marble ground. Materials used include onyx, porphyry, serpentine and coloured glass. It is 24 feet 10 inches square and there were three Latin inscriptions incorporated in it. One calculated that the world would last for 19,683 years. The pavement is currently undergoing restoration.
The Chapel containing the shrine of St. Edward the Confessor, lies east of the Sanctuary at the heart of the Abbey. It is closed off from the west by a stone screen, probably of 15th century date, carved with scenes from the Confessor’s life. Work is in progress to conserve the floor of this chapel and during this time public access is restricted.
An earlier shrine had been erected in 1163, after the Confessor had been canonised. When Henry III rebuilt Edward’s Abbey he prepared a new shrine, bringing workmen from Italy. Peter the Roman was the chief artist. On 13 October 1269 the body was brought in solemn procession to its new resting place. The shrine seen today is only a shadow of its former self. It originally had three parts: a stone base decorated with Cosmati work, a gold feretory containing the saint’s coffin, and a canopy above it, which could be raised to reveal the feretory or lowered to cover it. The shrine was decorated with gold images of kings and saints. Many sick people came to the shrine to pray for a cure and the steps in the recesses of the shrine base are worn away by the knees of pilgrims (the illustration shown is by David Gentleman). At the Reformation the shrine was dismantled and stored by the monks, although the gold feretory was taken away. The Confessor’s body was buried in another part of the Abbey. In the reign of Mary I the shrine was rebuilt. The Purbeck marble base was re-assembled but little care was taken to match the carvings and designs which decorated it. In absence of a feretory the coffin was placed in a hollow in the top part of the stone base, where it still remains. The wooden canopy has been restored and re-painted.
The chapel has a Cosmati floor, similar to that in front of the High Altar. The present altar dates from 1902. For many centuries the Coronation Chair was housed in this chapel but is now located just outside, near the Lady Chapel steps.
The Lady Chapel was begun in 1503 and constructed at the expense of Henry VII. It is the last great masterpiece of English medieval architecture. In 1545 John Leland called it “the wonder of the entire world”. Unfortunately the names of the master masons who designed it are not known but they were possibly Robert Janyns and William Vertue. The chapel is approached by a flight of stairs and at the entrance are finely wrought bronze gates displaying royal Tudor emblems.
The outstanding feature of the chapel is the spectacular fan-vaulted roof with its carved pendants. Around the walls are 95 statues of saints. Behind the altar is the tomb of Henry VII and his queen Elizabeth of York. The bronze screen around it is by Thomas Ducheman and the gilt bronze effigies and Renaissance tomb were designed by Italian Pietro Torrigiano. James I is also buried in the vault beneath the monument.
In 1725 the chapel was first used for installations of Knights of the Order of the Bath and the heraldic banners of living knights hang above the oak stalls. Beneath the hinged seats of the stalls are beautifully carved misericords.
At the east end is the Royal Air Force chapel. The stained glass window by Hugh Easton depicts the badges of the fighter squadrons that took part in the Battle of Britain in 1940. Above, in the main east window, is stained glass designed by Alan Younger, installed in 2000.
In the north aisle of the chapel is the tomb of Elizabeth I and her half-sister Mary I. In the south aisle are monuments to Mary, Queen of Scots and Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. Here also is the vault where Charles II, William III and Mary II and Queen Anne lie, although none of them has a monument. George II, the last monarch to be buried at the Abbey, is interred in a vault below the central part of the chapel.
The painting of the Virgin and Child on the altar is by Bartolomeo Vivarini (Venetian School, about 1480). It was presented to the Abbey in 1935.
Local Interest
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