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 The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to as Westminster Abbey, is a mainly 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 and burial site for English monarchs.

1 History
2 Coronations
3 Burials and Memorials
4 Schools
5 Transport
6 Chapter
7 List of Abbots, Deans, and the Bishop of Westminster
8 Gallery
9 See also
10 Further reading
11 External links

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History

According to tradition a shrine was first founded in 616 on the present site, then known as 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. Image:London westminster 1894.jpgThe only extant depiction of the original Abbey, in the Romanesque style that is called "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 ordered the rebuilding of the Abbey in the 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. Henry VII added a Perpendicular style chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 1503 (known as the Henry VII Chapel).

Although the Abbey was seized by 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 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 iconoclasts, but was again protected by its close ties to the state during the 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 The Abbey was restored to the Benedictines under the Catholic Queen Mary, but they were again ejected under Queen Elizabeth I in 1559. In 1579, Elizabeth re-established Westminster as a "Royal Peculiar" — a church responsible directly to the 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 Oxford and 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.

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Coronations

Since the coronations in 1066 of both King Harold and William the Conqueror, all English monarchs (except Lady Jane Grey, Edward V and Edward VIII, who did not have coronations) have been crowned in the Abbey. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the traditional cleric in the coronation ceremony. St Edward's Chair, the throne on which 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.

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Burials and Memorials

Image:Westminster abbey night.jpg 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 and Charles I are buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, as are all monarchs and royals since 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:

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Removed

The following were buried in the abbey but later removed on the orders of Charles II:

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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.

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Transport

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

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Chapter

The Abbey is a collegiate church organised into the College of St Peter, which comprises the Dean and four residentiary Canons (one of whom is also Rector of 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.

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List of Abbots, Deans, and the Bishop of Westminster

Image:Westminster Abbey London 900px.jpg Image:Westminster Abbey West Door.jpg

Abbots
Edwin	1049 – c. 1071
Geoffrey of Jumièges	c. 1071 – c. 1075
Vitalis of Bernay	c. 1076 – 1085
Gilbert Crispin	1085 – 1117
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
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
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
Bishop intra-Reformation
Thomas Thirlby	1540 – 1550
Deans intra-Reformation
William Benson (Abbot Boston)	1540 – 1549
Richard Cox	1549 – 1553
Hugh Weston	1553 – 1556
Abbot restored by Mary I of England
John Feckenham	1556 – 1559
Deans post-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	1620 – 1644
Richard Steward (never installed)	1644 – 1651	(Commonwealth period)
John Earle	1660 – 1662
John Dolben *	1662 – 1683	*For a time it was customary for the Deanery of Westminster to go along with the 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 *	1768 – 1793
Samuel Horsley *	1793 – 1802
William Vincent	1802 – 1815
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, KCVO	1974 – 1985
Michael Mayne, KCVO	1986 – 1996
(Arthur) Wesley Carr, KCVO	1997 – 2006