Westminster Abbey
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Westminster Abbey, The West Front
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always
referred to popularly and informally as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly
Gothic church, in Westminster, London, England, located just to the west of the
Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site
for English, later British and later still (and currently) monarchs of the
Commonwealth Realms. It briefly held the status of a cathedral from 1546–1556,
and is a Royal Peculiar.
Westminster Abbey is governed by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, as
established by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1560, which created it as
the Collegiate Church of St Peter Westminster and a Royal Peculiar under the
personal jurisdiction of the Sovereign. The members of the Chapter are the Dean
and four residentiary Canons, assisted by the Receiver General and Chapter
Clerk. One of the Canons is also Rector of St Margaret’s Church Westminster
Abbey (who has also often held the post of Chaplain to the Speaker of the House
of Commons). In addition to the Dean and Canons there are at present two full
time minor canons, one precentor, the other succentor. The office of Priest
Vicar was created in the 1970s for those who assist the minor canons. Together
with the Clergy and Receiver General and Chapter Clerk, various Lay Officers
constitute the College, including the Organist and Master of the Choristers, the
Registrar, the Auditor, the Legal Secretary, the Surveyor of the Fabric, the
Head Master of the Choir School, the Keeper of the Muniments and the Clerk of
the Works, as well as twelve Lay Vicars and ten of the choristers and the High
Steward and High Bailiff. There are also forty Queen’s Scholars who are pupils
at Westminster School (the School has its own Governing Body). Those who are
most directly concerned with liturgical and ceremonial matters are the two Minor
Canons and the Organist and Master of the Choristers.
Slide 45a1, 1975
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Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known
as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in
Westminster, London, located just to the
west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of
coronation and burial site for English, later British and later still
(and currently) monarchs of the Commonwealth realms. The abbey is a
Royal Peculiar and briefly held the status of a cathedral from 1546 to
1556.
Photo 586, May 2011
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Westminster Abbey is steeped in more than a thousand years of
history. Benedictine monks first came to this site in the middle of
the tenth century, establishing a tradition of daily worship which
continues to this day.
The Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066 and is the
final resting place of seventeen monarchs.
The present church, begun by Henry III in 1245, is one of the
most important Gothic buildings in the country, with the medieval
shrine of an Anglo-Saxon saint still at its heart.
A treasure house of paintings, stained glass, pavements, textiles
and other artefacts, Westminster Abbey is also the place where some of
the most significant people in the nation's history are buried or
commemorated. Taken as a whole the tombs and memorials comprise the
most significant single collection of monumental sculpture anywhere in
the United Kingdom.
Photo 592, May 2011
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Westminster Abbey
Photo 591, May 2011
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Westminster Abbey
Photo 594, May 2011
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Westminster Abbey
Photo 599, May 2011
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Westminster Abbey
Photo 601, May 2011
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Westminster Abbey
Photo 602, May 2011
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Westminster Abbey
Photo 605, May 2011
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Westminster Abbey
Photo 606, May 2011
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Westminster Abbey
Photo 607, May 2011
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