This is the finest example of Early English Gothic (1190-1300), it serves as a place of worship, where every monarch since William the Conqueror has been crowned and recounts the country’s history with the graves of 17 monarchs from Henry III (died 1272) to George II (1760). The abbey is FULL of graves and memorials.
The famous spots are the Sanctuary (for royal coronations, weddings and funerals), Quire (for the 22 boys and 12 men of today’s choir), the Lady Chapel (Henry VIII) holding the Coronation Chair, Poet’s corner with the resting places of Chaucer, Dickens, Hardy, Tennyson, Johnson and Kipling plus memorials to Shakespeare, Jane Austin, and Bronte) and nearby the graves of Handel and Sir Isaac Newton.
Ladies Chapel
Shrine of St Edward the Confessor (founder of the abbey and the only complete saint’s body in England)
Poet’s Corner
Also see the octagonal Chapter House (from 1250 where the monks prayed but outlawed by Henry VIII), Pyx Chamber (1070, at 950 years, has the oldest door in Europe, used as a treasury and Royal Wardrobe) and the museum.
