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Westminster Abbey

The Abbey at night, from Dean's Yard. Artificial light reveals the formed by .
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The Abbey at night, from Dean's Yard. Artificial light reveals the exoskeleton formed by flying buttresses.

The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster (Westminster Abbey), a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral, is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English monarchs. It is located in Westminster, London, just to the west of Westminster Palace.

Contents

History

According to tradition, a shrine was first founded here in 616 on a site then known as Thorney Island. It was said to have been miraculously consecrated after a fisherman on the River Thames saw a vision of Saint Peter. While the existence of this shrine is uncertain, the historic Abbey was built by Edward the Confessor between 1045-1050 and was consecrated on December 28, 1065. Its construction originated in Edward's failure to keep a vow to go on a pilgrimage; the Pope suggested that he redeem himself by building an Abbey.

The original Abbey, in the Romanesque style that is called "Norman" in England, was built to house Benedictine monks. It was rebuilt in the Gothic style between 1245-1517. The first phase of the rebuilding was organised by Henry III, in Gothic style, as a shrine to honor Edward the Confessor and as a suitably regal setting for Henry's own tomb, under the highest Gothic nave in England. The work was largely finished by the architect Henry Yevele in the reign of King Richard II. Henry VII added a Perpendicular style chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 1503 (known as the Henry VII Lady Chapel).

Westminster Abbey's western facade
Enlarge
Westminster Abbey's western facade

Although the Abbey was seized by Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1534, and closed in 1540, becoming a cathedral until 1550, its royal connections saved it from the destruction wrought on most other English abbeys. The expression "robbing Peter to pay Paul" may arise from this period when money meant for the Abbey, which was dedicated to St. Peter, was diverted to the treasury of St. Paul's Cathedral. It suffered damage during the turbulent 1640s, when it was attacked by Puritan iconoclasts, but was again protected by its close ties to the state during the Commonwealth period. Oliver Cromwell was given an elaborate funeral there in 1658, only to be disinterred in January 1661 and posthumously hanged from a nearby gibbet.

The Abbey was restored to the Benedictines under Queen Mary, but they were again ejected under Queen Elizabeth I in 1559. In 1579, Elizabeth re-established Westminster as a "royal peculiar" – a church responsible directly to the sovereign, rather than to a diocesan bishop – and made it the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, (i.e. a church with an attached chapter of canons, headed by a dean).

The abbey's two western towers were built between 1722 and 1745 by Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor, constructed from Portland stone to an early example of a Gothic Revival design. Further rebuilding and restoration occurred in the 19th century under Sir George Gilbert Scott.

Until the 19th century, Westminster was the third seat of learning in England, after Oxford and Cambridge. It was here that the first third of the King James Bible Old Testament and the last half of the New Testament were translated. The New English Bible was also put together here in the 20th century.

Coronations

Since the Christmas Day coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all English monarchs (except Lady Jane Grey, Edward V and Edward VIII, who did not have coronations) have been crowned in the Abbey. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the traditional cleric in the coronation ceremony. St. Edward's Chair, the throne on which British sovereigns are seated at the moment of coronation, is housed within the Abbey.


Burials and Memorials

Henry III rebuilt the Abbey in honour of the Royal Saint Edward the Confessor whose memorial and relics were placed in the Sanctuary. Henry III was buried nearby as were the Plantagenet kings of England, their wives and relatives. Subsequently, most Kings and Queens of England were buried here. Although Henry VIII and Charles I are buried at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, as are all monarchs and royals since George II.

Aristocrats were buried in side chapels and monks and people associated with the Abbey were buried in the Cloisters and other areas. One of these was Geoffrey Chaucer, who was buried here as he had apartments in the Abbey as he was employed as master of the Kings Works. Other poets were buried around Chaucer in what became known as Poets' Corner. Abbey musicians such as Henry Purcell were also buried in their place of work. Subsequently it became an honour to be buried or memorialised here. The practice spread from aristocrats and poets to generals, admirals, politicians, scientists, doctors, etc., etc. These include:

Buried

Nave

North Transept

South Transept

Poets' Corner

Cloisters

North Choir Aisle

Commemorated


Removed
The following were buried in the abbey but later removed on the orders of Charles II

Schools

Westminster School and Westminster Abbey Choir School are also on the grounds of the Abbey. Westminster School was originally founded by the Benedictine monks in 1179.

Transport

List of Abbots, Deans, and the Bishop of Westminster


Abbots
Edwin 1049c. 1071
Geoffrey of Jumièges c. 1071c. 1075
Vitalis of Bernay c. 10761085
Gilbert Crispin 10851117
Herbert 1121c. 1136
Gervase de Blois 1138c. 1157
Laurence of Durham c. 11581173
Walter of Winchester 11751190
William Postard 11911200
Ralph de Arundel (alias Papillon) 12001214
William de Humez 12141222
Richard de Berkying 12221246
Richard de Crokesley 12461258
Phillip de Lewisham 1258
Richard de Ware 12581283
Walter de Wenlok 12831307
Richard de Kedyngton (alias Sudbury) 13081315
William de Curtlyngton 13151333
Thomas de Henley 13331344
Simon de Bircheston 13441349
Simon de Langham 13491362
Nicholas de Litlyngton 13621386
William de Colchester 13861420
Edmund Kyrton 14401462
George Norwich 14631469
Thomas Millyng 14691474
John Esteney 14741498
George Fascet 14981500
John Islip 15001532
William Boston 15331540
Bishop
intra-Reformation
Thomas Thirlby 15401550
Deans
intra-Reformation
William Benson (Abbot Boston) 15401549
Richard Cox 15491553
Hugh Weston 15531556
Abbot
restored by Mary I of England
John Feckenham 15561559
Deans
post-Reformation
William Bill 15601561
Gabriel Goodman 15611601
Lancelot Andrewes 16011605
Richard Neile 16051610
George Montaigne 16101617
Robert Tounson 16171620
John Williams 16201644
Richard Steward (never installed) 16441651 (Commonwealth period)
John Earle 16601662
John Dolben 16621683
Thomas Sprat 16831713
Francis Atterbury 17131723
Samuel Bradford 17231731
Joseph Wilcocks 17311756
Zachary Pearce 17561768
John Thomas 17681793
Samuel Horsley 17931802
William Vincent 18021815
John Ireland 18161842
Thomas Turton 18421845
Samuel Wilberforce 1845
William Buckland 18451856
Richard Chenevix Trench 18561864
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley 18641881
George Granville Bradley 18811902
Joseph Armitage Robinson 19021911
Herbert Edward Ryle 19111925
William Foxley Norris 19251937
Paul de Labilliere 19381946
Alan Don 19461959
Eric Abbott 19591974
Edward Carpenter 19741985
Michael Mayne 19861996
Arthur Wesley Carr 1997present

See also

Further reading

  • Simon Bradley & Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England - London 6: Westminster pp. 105-207. Yale University Press 2003. ISBN 0 300 09595 3.

External link

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