Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey bears a rich history with its title. Built by a variety of patrons over a span of centuries, it is impossible to put a single date on its construction. A brief look at the history of this famous abbey is essential in order to appreciate this treasured British landmark.
Westminster Abbey was founded by King Edward the Confessor on the site of a Benedictine monastery on the river Thames. There was an original monastery of uncertain origin before the 11th century Benedictine monastery. Two of the claims about the ancient history of the site of Westminster Abbey are that it was founded by a Saxon king named Sebert in the seventh century, and that it was founded by a British king named Lucius in the second century.
King Edward the Confessor.
King Edward’s church was founded in honor of St. Peter. It was called “west minster” to set it apart from St. Paul’s cathedral, which was called "east minster." Due to an illness that would soon cost him his life, King Edward could not attend the consecration of his beloved church. The only remnants of the original monastery existing today are the round arches and large columns in the undercroft and Pyx Chamber.
Henry III is to credit for most of the present-day church, for he rebuilt the Abbey in the Gothic style. It is often questioned, however, whether Henry III himself was personally invested in the plan, or whether his enthusiasm in support of Westminster Abbey was only a façade constructed by his advisors. Westminster Abbey bears strong French influences, which may be due to Henry’s personal competition with his brother-in-law, Louis IX of France. He desired to construct a building that combined Reims Cathedral and St. Denis in one edifice. The rebuilding was not something that occurred spontaneously; rather, it was most likely developed over a span of 25 years, from 1220 to 1245.
King Henry III
Between the reigns of Edward and Henry III, the monarchs did not dedicate a great deal of attention to Westminster Abbey. Though it was used as the coronation church, beginning with William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, it was otherwise ignored. The coronation of William the Conqueror was meant to resemble Charlemagne’s coronation at St. Peter’s in Rome in 800. Since then, every monarch has been crowned there except for Edward V and Edward VIII because neither was ever crowned.
Henry III employed several architects in his revamping of Westminster Abbey: Henry of Reynes, John of Gloucester, and Robert of Beverley in succession. Henry began building the Lady Chapel in 1220, though Abbot William de Humez had already been raising funds for it. So much money was raised in donations that it appears that the project generated great support among the populace. No more work beyond the laying of the foundation stone of the chapel was carried out by Henry III, however, and this chapel was replaced by the chapel of Henry VII, the first of the Tudor monarchs, in 1516.
In 1540, the monastery at Westminster Abbey was dissolved upon England’s break with the Catholic Church, and Henry VIII made Westminster a cathedral church. It again became a Benedictine monastery in 1556 under “Bloody” Mary I. Under the rule of Elizabeth I, however, Parliament gave the Abbey back to the crown, along with the rest of Mary’s religious houses, in July of 1559. Elizabeth made Westminster Abbey a Collegiate Church, establishing an extensive staff, and ordering that worship occur there daily. Forty scholars were selected to begin an education program known as the Westminster School. In fact, the Dean and Chapter at the Abbey were responsible for a large portion of the government of Westminster until the 20th century.
Queen Elizabeth I.
The Abbey was fairly neglected after the Reformation, until Christopher Wren became its first surveyor and began restoring it. The western towers were built in the 1740s, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and built by John James. Most Victorian work focused on restoring the Abbey, except for the work of Gilbert Scott and J. L. Pearson, who drastically renovated the north transept. The most recent great restoration occurred in 1995.