St. Saviour’s, Southwark: Nave, east
Westminster Abbey: West front
WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Dedicated to St. Peter. Church of a Benedictine Monastery.
Special features: Edward the Confessor’s Chapel; Shrine of the Confessor; the “Poets’ Corner”; Henry VII.’s Chapel.
Westminster Abbey, though not a cathedral, is, perhaps, the most famous church in England. It is, however, visited on account of its historical associations rather than because of its architecture. Yet architects know full well that it is the equal of Salisbury, Lincoln, Ely, or Canterbury. In it all British sovereigns have been crowned since the days of the Conqueror and in it rest the remains of the nation’s most honoured dead.
According to tradition, in the Seventh Century, Siebert, King of the East Saxons, built a church to St. Peter on what was then Thorney Island. It became known as Westminster.