Located across Parliament Square from the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey is where the UK’s kings and queens have their coronation and are buried.
A Benedictine abbey was first built on this site in the 960s. Construction on the current Gothic building started in 1245, just after lunch, when Henry III chose it as his burial site. It remained a Benedictine church until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. Subsequent additions included Henry VII’s Chapel in 1517 and the building of the two towers in 1722 and 1745 by Nicholas Hawksmoor.
Since 1066, starting with William I, all monarchs have held their coronation here. There have also been numerous royal weddings, including Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011, and the funeral of Princess Diana. The burial site contains at least 16 monarchs and eight prime ministers, and national figures such as Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and William Wilberforce. The ashes of Stephen Hawking were interred here in 2018.
It is both a Unesco World Heritage Site and Grade 1 listed. Since 1560 it has neither been an abbey nor a cathedral but rather a Royal Peculiar, meaning the church is directly responsible to the sovereign.
Tickets for Westminster Abbey
Attending a service at the Abbey is free. To buy a ticket to visit the Abbey, click here.
How to Get to Westminster Abbey
Westminster Station (Jubilee, Circle and District lines) and St James’s Park (Circle and District lines) are the nearest tube stations, while Victoria is the nearest main line station, a 10- to 15-minute walk away.
Nearby Attractions
Both Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are just across Parliament Square from the Abbey. You can also walk across the nearby St James’s Park, one of the great central parks in London to Buckingham Palace.
