WESTMINSTER ABBEY. ( Ine of the prin cipal churches, and, in a peculiar sense, the na tional sanctuary, of England. it was originally the abbey church of a monastery founded in the reign of King Offal. of Mercia, and reorganized by Dunstan in 971. The first church is said to have been built by King Sebert of Essex (616) on Thorney Isle, in the Thames. The foundation did not, however, achieve importance until the reign of Edward the Confessor, who had a pal ace at Westminster, and in 1(149-65 built a church on the present site, dedicated to Saint Peter, whence the present official name of 'Westminster Abbey, the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter. In the later thirteenth century III. under took the reconstruction of the church, whieh was consecrated in 1269, and the work Was continued by his successors, the nave not having been com pleted until the fifteenth century. The chapel of Henry Vii. was added in 15112-20 under Henry VIII., and the two west towers by Sir Christopher Wren and liawkesmore (1722-40), and the north transept was restored in 1890. The Abbey was heavily I and under the special protection of the Kings of England, whose palace was at NVestminster. It was disendowed during the Reformation as a cathedral (1540-50), but re stored by Queen Mary. and received its present organization. under a dean and twelve canons, from Elizabeth.
Westminster Abbey is one of the Isrgest and best examples of the early English style. More than any other, it shows the French influence, in its polygonal apse and chapels, the loftiness of the nave and heavy flying buttresses. Its proportions are grandiose. The total exterior length, including Henry VIT.'s chapel, is 423 feet 6 inches; the breadth is Ti feet 9 inches, for nave and aisles, and 203 feet 2 inches across the tran septs. The nave is the loftiest in _England (101 feet S inches) ; the towers measure 225 feet 4 inches. The imposing efieet of the interior, with its beautiful stone and fine glass windows, is somewhat marred by restorations and the namu ments. The Chapel of henry VII.. forming the apsidal termination of the Abbey, is a very re markable structure in the Perpendicular style (late Gothic), having a ceiling vaulted with fan tracery of the highest and most elegant char acter imaginable. The beautiful oak choir stalls are appropriated by the Knights of tine Bath. each seat bearing the armorial bearings of the occupant, whose sword and banner hang over head.
Of all English churches none is so intimately connected with the national life and history. English kings since William the Conqueror have been crowned there, :ind there the ancient re galia were kept till their destruction under the commonwealth. The coronation chair. contain ing the ancient Stone of Scone. brought by Edward I. from Scotland. still stands in the Chapel of Edward the Confessor. In West minster Abbey lie buried thirteen kings, includ ing Edward the Confessor, and others from Henry IlL to George IL, five :overei.cm queen:. besides the consorts and descendant: of kings. Among the most celebrated tombs are the Shrine of Edward the Confe;sor, erected hy Henry Ill. in that saint's chapel. and the tombs of Henry VT1. and his consort. Elizabeth of York, heanti ful marble effigies, by the Florentine sculptor Torrigiano. The practice of interring courtier-, statesmen, and soldiers in the Abbey began under Richard II., and to be practiced. The two I'itts, Fox. Palmerston, Warren Hastings, and ot her modern )11111101'011ti to mention have been accorded lids honor. In tla Poets' Corner (South Transept) repose some of England's greatest poets. Chaucer, Spenser, Dry• den, Gray, and others, and near by rest the melt of letters. There are places for theologians. actors, inushians, artists, and scientisG:.
means all of England's great men have been offered or accepted the honor of interment in the Abbey; but. for such special statues, busts, or tablets frequently are erected there. With a few exceptions. all these monuments ;ire disappoint ing from the artistic standpoint. On the east, side of the Abbey is the Chapter House, a beau tiful octagonal Gothic hall. in Nvhich from 1282 till 1547 the House of Commons assembled. The ,Ierusalem Chandier, to the southwest of the Abbey, and so because of its former decora tions, is celebrated as the death-ehamber of licitly I V. Westminste'r School. imitated by Queen Elizabeth in 1560 from revenues of the Ahbey, occupies the ancient dormitory of thu. Abbey as a isehoolroom and its refectory as lining-room. The latter contains some ancient tapestry and stained glass.
ItintionnArnv. The best and most complete of the numerous works on Westminster Abbey and its monuments are those of Noah. and Bray ley ( London, 1818). Dean Stanley (ib., and Loftie 189(I). For it-, architectural features, consult the work of Gilbert Scott HI., 1862).