Westminster Abbey – Virtual Tour

Westminster Abbey is a large Gothic Abbey Church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronations and burial site for the English and later, British monarchs.

Since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all coronations of English and British monarchs have been in Westminster Abbey.

According to a tradition, a church was founded at the site in the seventh century. Construction of the present church began in 1245, on the orders of King Henry III.

The building itself was a Benedictine monastic church until the monastery was dissolved in 1539. Between 1540 and 1556, the abbey had the status of a cathedral.

Since 1560, the building is no longer an abbey or a cathedral, having instead the status of a Church of England “Royal Peculiar,” a church responsible directly to the sovereign.

There have been 16 royal weddings at the abbey since 1100. It is also the burial site of more than 3,300 persons of prominence in British history.

West facade of the Westminster Abbey

Highlights of Westminster Abbey

King Edward’s Chair
The Cloister
Chapter House – built between about 1245 and 1253
The Royal Tombs – sixteen monarchs
Westminster Abbey Museum
Burial site of more than 3,300 persons, usually of prominence in British history
Lady Chapel – a memorial chapel to the airmen of the Royal Air Force who were killed in the Second World War
Poets’ Corner – poets, writers, and musicians were buried or memorialized around Chaucer’s burial site
Scientists Memorials – such as Isaac Newton, buried in 1727, Charles Darwin, buried in 1882, and Stephen Hawking, ashes interred in 2018
Politician’s Memorials – William Wilberforce who led the movement to abolish slavery in the United Kingdom and the Plantations, buried in 1833

Westminster Abbey – Map

Westminster Abbey – 360 Virtual Views

Westminster Abbey

Site: Westminster Abbey
Formally: The Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster
City: London
Country: United Kingdom
Founded: 960
Type: Historical Site
Denomination: Church of England
Nave width: 85 feet (26 m)
Floor area: 32,000 square feet (3,000 m2)
Towers: 2
Tower height: 225 feet (69 m)
Bells: 10
Location: 20 Deans Yd, Westminster, London, UK

Westminster Abbey – 360 Virtual Views

Westminster Abbey – 360 Virtual Views – Chapter House

Westminster Abbey

As the burial site of more than 3,300 persons, usually of prominence in British history, including:

sixteen monarchs
eight Prime Ministers
poet laureates
actors
scientists
military leaders
the Unknown Warrior

There have been 16 royal weddings at the abbey since 1100, including:

1100 – King Henry I of England
1243 – Richard, Earl of Cornwall (later King of Germany), brother of King Henry III of England
1269 – Edmund of Crouchback, 1st Earl of Leicester and Lancaster, son of King Henry III
1290 – 7th Earl of Gloucester
1290 – John II, son of Duke of Brabant
1382 – King Richard II of England
1486 – King Henry VII of England
1919 – Captain the Hon. Alexander Ramsay
1922 – Viscount Lascelles
1923 – Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), second son of King George V
1934 – Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V
1947 – Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II)
1960 – Antony Armstrong-Jones (later Earl of Snowdon) and Princess Margaret, second daughter of King George VI
1963 – Hon. Angus Ogilvy and Princess Alexandra of Kent
1973 Captain Mark Phillips Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II
1986 Prince Andrew, Duke of York, second son of Queen Elizabeth II
2011 Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II