Westminster Abbey
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Westminster Abbey is the great Gothic church in London where English monarchs have been crowned since 1066. It is also the burial place of kings, queens, scientists and poets.
From monastery to church of kings
Around 960 a small Benedictine community lived here. King Edward the Confessor enlarged it and built a stone church, consecrated in 1065.
In 1245 King Henry III began rebuilding it in Gothic style. The two towers of the west front were completed in 1745, to a design by Nicholas Hawksmoor.
What to look at from outside
The west front has two square towers of pale stone. Above the great door, in the niches, stand ten statues of people from the 1900s, added in 1998.
On the south side, inside the church, is Poets' Corner. There, more than 100 poets and writers are buried or remembered with a memorial stone.
Coronations and tombs
Almost every monarch since 1066 has been crowned here. The old Coronation Chair is still kept inside the church.
About 3300 people are buried in the church and cloisters. Near the west door lies the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, a nameless soldier of the First World War. For many visitors it is an important stop.
