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Westminster abbey

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:''This article refers to the church in London. For the Benedictine monastery in British Columbia, see Westminster Abbey (British Columbia)''. Image:Westminster abbey west.jpg thumb|250px|right|The Abbey's western faÃ§ade '''The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster''', which is almost always referred to as '''Westminster Abbey''', is a mainly Gothic architecture Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral, in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of Coronation of the British monarch coronation and List of famous cemeteries burial site for List of monarchs of England English monarchs.

History
According to tradition a shrine was first founded in 616 on the present site, then known as Thorney Island (London) Thorney Island; it was said to have been miraculously consecrated after a fisherman on the River Thames saw a vision of Saint Peter, and for many centuries the monks received presents of salmon from the Thames fishermen. While the existence of this shrine is uncertain, there was certainly a community of Benedictine monks before the first historic Abbey was built by King Edward the Confessor around 1045–1050. Its construction originated in King Edward's failure to keep a vow to go on a pilgrimage; the Pope agreed that he redeem himself by building a church to St. Peter. It was consecrated on December 28, 1065, immediately before the Confessor's funeral and the last Saxon coronation of his successor King Harold II of England Harold. Image:London westminster 1894.jpg thumb|250px|A plan dated 1894.The only extant depiction of the original Abbey, in the Romanesque style that is called Norman architecture "Norman" in England, together with the adjacent Palace of Westminster, is in the Bayeux Tapestry. The Confessor's shrine subsequently played a great part in his canonisation. The Abbot and learned monks, in close proximity to the royal Palace of Westminster, became a powerful force in the centuries after the Norman Conquest: the Abbot was often employed on royal service and in due course took his place in the House of Lords as of right. Henry III of England Henry III ordered the rebuilding of the Abbey in the Gothic architecture Gothic style, as a shrine to honour Edward the Confessor and as a suitably regal setting for Henry's own tomb, under the highest Gothic nave in England. The work continued between 1245-1517 and was largely finished by the architect Henry Yevele in the reign of King Richard II of England Richard II. Henry VII of England Henry VII added a Perpendicular Period Perpendicular style chapel dedicated to the Mary, the mother of Jesus Virgin Mary in 1503 (known as the ''Henry VII Lady Chapel Henry VII Chapel''). Although the Abbey was seized by Henry VIII of England Henry VIII in 1534 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, 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 Saint Peter 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 iconoclasm iconoclasts, but was again protected by its close ties to the state during the Commonwealth of England 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.Image:Westminster Abbey Choir ILN 1848.jpg thumb|250px|The choir in 1848. The Abbey was restored to the Benedictines under the Catholic Mary I of England Queen Mary, but they were again ejected under Elizabeth I of England Queen Elizabeth I in 1559. In 1579, Elizabeth re-established Westminster as a "Royal Peculiar" — a church responsible directly to the monarch sovereign, rather than to a diocesan bishop — and made it the '''Collegiate Church of St Peter''', (that is a church with an attached chapter of canons, headed by a dean). The last Abbot was made the first Dean. The abbey's two western towers were built between 1722 and 1745 by 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 University of Oxford Oxford and University of Cambridge 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 coronations in 1066 of both Harold II King Harold and William the Conqueror, all English monarchs (except Jane of England Lady Jane Grey, Edward V of England Edward V and Edward VIII of the United Kingdom Edward VIII, who did not have coronations) have been crowned in the Abbey. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the traditional clergy cleric in the Coronation of the British monarch coronation ceremony. King Edward's Chair St Edward's Chair, the throne on which United Kingdom British sovereigns are seated at the moment of coronation, is housed within the Abbey; from 1296 to 1996 the chair also housed the Stone of Scone upon which the kings of Scotland are crowned, but pending another coronation the Stone is now kept in Scotland.

Burials and Memorials
Image:westminster abbey night.jpg exoskeleton.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|300px|right|The Abbey at night, from Dean's Yard. Artificial light reveals the [[exoskeleton formed by flying buttresses.html" title="Meaning of 300px|right|The Abbey at night, from Dean's Yard. Artificial light reveals the [[exoskeleton">thumb|300px|right|The Abbey at night, from Dean's Yard. Artificial light reveals the [[exoskeleton formed by flying buttresses">300px|right|The Abbey at night, from Dean's Yard. Artificial light reveals the [[exoskeleton">thumb|300px|right|The Abbey at night, from Dean's Yard. Artificial light reveals the [[exoskeleton formed by flying buttresses Henry III of England 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 of England Henry VIII and Charles I of England Charles I are buried at St. George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, as are all monarchs and royals since George II of Great Britain George II. In 2005 the original ancient burial tomb of Edward the Confessor was discovered, beneath the 1268 Cosmati mosaic pavement, in front of the High Altar. A series of royal tombs dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries was also discovered using ground-penetrating radar. 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 where 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
Image:Westminster Abbey by Canaletto, 1749.JPG Knights of the Bath.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|250px|Westminster Abbey with a procession of [[Knights of the Bath, by Canaletto, 1749.html" title="Meaning of right|250px|Westminster Abbey with a procession of [[Knights of the Bath">thumb|right|250px|Westminster Abbey with a procession of [[Knights of the Bath, by Canaletto, 1749">right|250px|Westminster Abbey with a procession of [[Knights of the Bath">thumb|right|250px|Westminster Abbey with a procession of [[Knights of the Bath, by Canaletto, 1749

=Nave
= *Clement Attlee Clement Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee *Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts *Charles Darwin *James Clerk Maxwell *J.J. Thomson *Edward the Confessor Saint Edward the Confessor *Ben Jonson *David Livingstone *Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton *Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford *William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin *The Unknown Warrior *George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham *Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox *Thomas Tompion *George Graham (clockmaker) George Graham

=North Transept
= *William Ewart Gladstone *William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham *William Pitt the Younger

=South Transept
= image:westminster.abbey.northentrance.arp.500pix.jpg thumb|right|250px| The North entrance of Westminster Abbey ''Poets' Corner'' * Robert Adam * Robert Browning * William Camden * Thomas Campbell * Geoffrey Chaucer * William Congreve (playwright) William Congreve * Abraham Cowley * William Davenant * Charles Dickens * John Dryden * Adam Fox * David Garrick * John Gay * George Frederick Handel * Thomas Hardy * Samuel Johnson Dr Samuel Johnson * Rudyard Kipling * Thomas Macaulay * John Masefield * Laurence Olivier Laurence Olivier, Baron Olivier * Thomas Parr * Richard Brinsley Sheridan * Edmund Spenser * Alfred Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

=Cloisters
= *Aphra Behn

=North Choir Aisle
= *Henry Purcell *Ralph Vaughan Williams

Commemorated
Image:West-abb-standard.PNG thumb|right|250px|Standard of Westminster Abbey * William Shakespeare, buried at Stratford-upon-Avon * Winston Churchill Sir Winston Churchill, buried at Bladon, Oxfordshire * Rowland Hill Sir Roland Hill (in the Chapel of St. Paul), buried in Highgate Cemetery, London * Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, buried at Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire * Adam Lindsay Gordon, buried in Australia * Paul Dirac, buried in Florida * Oscar Wilde (in a stained glass window unveiled in 1995), buried in Paris [http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/westmin.htm] * Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, buried at Cambridge, Massachusetts * Ten 20th-century Christian martyrs from across the world are depicted in statues above the Great West Door. Unveiled in 1998, these are, from left to right: ** St. Maximilian Kolbe ** Manche Masemola ** Janani Luwum ** Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia ** Martin Luther King, Jr. ** Ã“scar Romero ** Dietrich Bonhoeffer ** Esther John ** Lucian Tapiedi ** Wang Zhiming

Removed
The following were buried in the abbey but later removed on the orders of Charles II of England Charles II: *Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector *Admiral Robert Blake

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
*Nearest London Underground stations: ** St. James's Park tube station St. James's Park (District, Circle lines) ** Westminster tube station Westminster (Jubilee, District, Circle lines)

Chapter
The Abbey is a collegiate church orgnaised into the College of St Peter, which comprises the Dean and four residentiary Canons (one of whom is also Rector of St. Margaret's, Westminster St Margaret's Church, Westminster, and Speaker's Chaplain), and seventeen other persons who are members ex officio, as well as twelve lay vicars and ten choristers. The seventeen are the Receiver-General and Chapter Clerk, the Registrar, the Auditor, the Legal Secretary and the Clerk of the Works (the administrative officers). Those more directly concerned with liturgical and ceremonial operations include the Precentor, the Chaplain and Sacrist, the Organist, and the (honorary) High Steward and High Bailiff. The Abbey and its property is in the care of the Librarian, the Keeper of the Muniments, and the Surveyor of the Fabric. Lastly, the educational role of the Abbey is reflected in the presence of the Headmaster of the Choir School, the Headmaster and Under Master of Westminster School, and the Master of The Queen's Scholars. The Abbey is governed by the Dean and Chapter established under the Elizabethan statute of 1560. This consists of the Dean and the four residentiary Canons.

List of Abbots, Deans, and the Bishop of Westminster
Image:Westminster Abbey London 900px.jpg right|thumb|Westminster Abbey, as seen from the west Image:Westminster Abbey West Door.jpg right|thumb|Westminster Abbey's West Door in sunshine {| class="wikitable" style="background-color:white; border-color:white" |- | colspan="2" bgcolor=#DFEEF3 style="padding-top:10px; text-align:bottom"| '''Abbots''' |- | Edwin (abbot) Edwin || 1049 – ''c.'' 1071 |- | Geoffrey of JumiÃ¨ges ||style="white-space:nowrap"| ''c.'' 1071 – ''c.'' 1075 |- | Vitalis of Bernay || ''c.'' 1076 – 1085 |- | Gilbert Crispin || 1085 – 1117 |- | Herbert (Abbot of Westminster) Herbert || 1121 – ''c.'' 1136 |- | Gervase de Blois || 1138 – ''c.'' 1157 |- | Laurence of Durham || ''c.'' 1158 – 1173 |- | Walter of Winchester || 1175 – 1190 |- | William Postard || 1191 – 1200 |- | Ralph de Arundel (''alias Papillon'') || 1200 – 1214 |- | William de Humez || 1214 – 1222 |- | Richard de Berkying || 1222 – 1246 |- | Richard de Crokesley || 1246 – 1258 |- | Phillip de Lewisham || 1258 |- | Richard de Ware || 1258 – 1283 |- | Walter de Wenlok || 1283 – 1307 |- |style="white-space:nowrap"|Richard de Kedyngton (''alias Sudbury'') || 1308 – 1315 |- | William de Curtlyngton || 1315 – 1333 |- | Thomas de Henley || 1333 – 1344 |- | Simon de Bircheston || 1344 – 1349 |- | Simon de Langham || 1349 – 1362 |- |style="white-space:nowrap"|Nicholas de Litlyngton|| 1362 – 1386 |- | William de Colchester || 1386 – 1420 |- | Edmund Kyrton || 1440 – 1462 |- | George Norwich || 1463 – 1469 |- | Thomas Millyng || 1469 – 1474 |- | John Esteney || 1474 – 1498 |- | George Fascet || 1498 – 1500 |- | John Islip || 1500 – 1532 |- | William Boston || 1533 – 1540 |- | colspan="2" bgcolor=#DFEEF3 style="padding-top:10px; text-align:bottom" | '''Bishop'''
''intra-Dissolution of the Monasteries Reformation'' |- | Thomas Thirlby || 1540 – 1550 |- | colspan="2" bgcolor=#DFEEF3 style="padding-top:10px; text-align:bottom" | '''Deans'''
''intra-Dissolution of the Monasteries Reformation'' |- | William Benson (''Abbot Boston'') || 1540 – 1549 |- | Richard Cox (bishop) Richard Cox || 1549 – 1553 |- | Hugh Weston || 1553 – 1556 |- | colspan="2" bgcolor=#DFEEF3 style="padding-top:10px; text-align:bottom" | '''Abbot'''
''restored by Mary I of England'' |- | John Feckenham || 1556 – 1559 |- | colspan="2" bgcolor=#DFEEF3 style="padding-top:10px; text-align:bottom" | '''Deans'''
''post-Dissolution of the Monasteries Reformation'' |- | William Bill || 1560 – 1561 |- | Gabriel Goodman || 1561 – 1601 |- | Lancelot Andrewes || 1601 – 1605 |- | Richard Neile || 1605 – 1610 |- | George Montaigne || 1610 – 1617 |- | Robert Tounson || 1617 – 1620 |- | ben Williams (archbishop) ben Williams || 1620 – 1644 |- | Richard Steward (never installed) .html">1644 – 1651 |_(Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth period) |- | John Earle || 1660 – 1662 |- | John Dolben * .html">1662 – 1683 |rowspan=4_valign="top"| *''For a time it was customary for the Deanery of Westminster to go along with the Bishop of Rochester | Bishopric of Rochester. Deans marked with an asterisk held both offices concurrently.'' |- | Thomas Sprat * || 1683 – 1713 |- | Francis Atterbury * || 1713 – 1723 |- | Samuel Bradford * || 1723 – 1731 |- | Joseph Wilcocks * || 1731 – 1756 |- | Zachary Pearce * || 1756 – 1768 |- | John Thomas (dean) John Thomas * || 1768 – 1793 |- | Samuel Horsley * || 1793 – 1802 |- | William Vincent || 1802 – 1815 |- | John Ireland (dean) John Ireland || 1816 – 1842 |- | Thomas Turton || 1842 – 1845 |- | Samuel Wilberforce || 1845 |- | William Buckland || 1845 – 1856 |- | Richard Chenevix Trench || 1856 – 1864 |- | Arthur Penrhyn Stanley || 1864 – 1881 |- | George Granville Bradley || 1881 – 1902 |- | Joseph Armitage Robinson || 1902 – 1911 |- | Herbert Edward Ryle || 1911 – 1925 |- | William Foxley Norris || 1925 – 1937 |- | Paul de Labilliere || 1938 – 1946 |- | Alan Don || 1946 – 1959 |- | Eric Symes Abbott || 1959 – 1974 |- | Edward Carpenter (dean) Edward Carpenter, KCVO || 1974 – 1985 |- | Michael Mayne, KCVO || 1986 – 1996 |- | (Arthur) Wesley Carr, KCVO || 1997 – 2006 |}

Gallery
Image:Westminster.abbey.westfront.london.arp.jpg|The west front Image:westminster.abbey.tombofhenry.london.arp.jpg|The tomb of King Henry III in the Abbey. Henry was crowned king at the age of nine, reigning from 1216 to 1272.

See also
* List of churches and cathedrals of London * List of famous cemeteries List of other famous burial sites * The Unknown Warrior

Further reading
* Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner: ''The Buildings of England - London 6: Westminster'' pp. 105–207. Yale University Press 2003. ISBN 0-300-09595-3.

External links
{{Commons|Westminster Abbey}} {{Spoken |Westminster Abbey.ogg|2005-04-21}}
- Westminster Abbey
- Keith Short - Sculptor Images of stone carving for Westminster Abbey * {{placeopedia|id=3309|title=Westminster Abbey}} Category:Churches in London Category:Gothic architecture Category:Monasteries in England Category:Visitor attractions in London Category:Westminster Category:World Heritage Sites in London bg:Ð£ÐµÑ?Ñ‚Ð¼Ð¸Ð½Ñ?Ñ‚ÑŠÑ€Ñ?ÐºÐ¾ Ð°Ð±Ð°Ñ‚Ñ?Ñ‚Ð²Ð¾ da:Westminster Abbey de:Westminster Abbey es:AbadÃa de Westminster fr:Abbaye de Westminster it:Abbazia di Westminster he:×ž× ×–×¨ ×•×¡×˜×ž×™× ×¡×˜×¨ lt:Vestminsterio vienuolynas hu:Westminster-apÃ¡tsÃ¡g nl:Westminster Abbey ja:ã‚¦ã‚§ã‚¹ãƒˆãƒŸãƒ³ã‚¹ã‚¿ãƒ¼å¯ºé™¢ no:Westminster Abbey pl:Opactwo Westminsterskie pt:Abadia de Westminster ro:Catedrala Westminster simple:Westminster Abbey fi:Westminster Abbey sv:Westminster Abbey zh:è¥¿æ•?å¯º see Westminster Abbey

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