Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican
church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the
coronations of 39 English and British monarchs,[5] and a burial site for 18 English, Scottish and British
monarchs.[6] At least 16 royal weddings have occurred at the abbey since 1100.[7]

Although the origins of the church are obscure, there was certainly an abbey operating on the site by
the mid-10th century, housing Benedictine monks.[8] The church got its first grand building in the 1060s
under the auspices of the English king Edward the Confessor, who is buried inside.[9] Construction of
the present church began in 1245 on the orders of Henry III.[10] The monastery was dissolved in 1559
and the church was made a royal peculiar—a Church of England church responsible directly to the
sovereign—by Elizabeth I.[11] In 1987, the abbey, together with the Palace of Westminster and St.
Margaret's Church, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its outstanding universal
value.[12]

The Gothic architecture of the church is chiefly inspired by French and English styles from the 13th
century,[13] although some sections of the church show earlier Romanesque styles[14] or later
Baroque[15] and modern styles.[16] The Henry VII Chapel at the east end of the church is a typical
example of Perpendicular Gothic architecture; the antiquarian John Leland said of it that it was "orbis
miraculum" (the wonder of the world).[17]

The abbey is the burial site of more than 3,300 people, many of prominence in British history: monarchs,
prime ministers, poets laureate, actors, scientists, military leaders, and the Unknown Warrior.[18]
Describing the fame of the figures buried there, author William Morris described the abbey in 1900 as a
"National Valhalla".[19]