Westminster Abbey
the coronation church of the sovereigns of England, and one of the chief ornaments of London. It is a magnificent Gothic pile, situated near the Thames, and adjoining the Houses of Parliament. In 1065 a church was built here in the Norman style by Edward the Confessor. Part of this structure still remains in the pyx house and the S. side of the cloisters; but the main building, as it now stands, was begun in 1220 by Henry III. (who built the choir and transepts), and was practically completed by Edward I. Various additions, however, were made (including the nave and aisles, the W. front, and the Jerusalem Chamber) down to the time of Henry VII., who built the chapel which bears his name, while the upper parts of the two W. towers were designed by Sir Christopher Wren.
The extreme length of the church, including Henry VII.'s chapel, is 531 feet; WEST PALM BEACH breadth of transepts, 203 feet; height of roof, 1024 feet; height of towers, 225 feet. The coronation ceremony takes place in the choir, where the coronation stone brought by Edward I. from Scotland is situated beside the coronation chairs of the English sovereigns. Westminster Abbey is distinguished as the burial place of a large number of English kings from Edward the Confessor to George II.; the N. transept is occupied chiefly by monuments to warriors and statesmen; while in the S. transept is situated the "Poets' Corner," the burial and memorial place of most of England's great writers since Chaucer's time. See LONDON.