Dunstan established a Benedictine monastery here; but the Abbey that we know was begun by Edward the Confessor in 1050. This King died soon after the Choir was finished in 1065, and was buried there. We gain an idea of his church from the Bayeux tapestry, which depicts Edward the Confessor’s funeral. Some portions of it remain below the present Choir.
During William Rufus’s reign the transepts and first bay of the nave were finished.
Henry III. determined to build a new church in the French style; and this was begun in 1245 and completed as far as the fourth bay of the nave in 1269. It is the most finished production of the first half of the Thirteenth Century in England.
Henry III. also built a Lady-Chapel, afterwards destroyed by Henry VII. for his exquisite chapel—the most perfect example of Perpendicular work. During the reign of Richard II. the old nave was reconstructed.
To many, the exterior of Westminster Abbey is not as impressive as St. Paul’s. It is disappointing in size and somewhat too narrow for its height. It is only when we enter and see the superb architecture and impressive monuments that its grandeur and solemnity grow upon us, notwithstanding the fact that the black-gowned vergers conducting parties of tourists from tomb to tomb and chapel to chapel, in business-like fashion, do all they can to dispel reverence by rattling off stories of Queen Hanne and ‘Enery VII., not always with unimpeachable accuracy.
“The West Front is flanked by two towers 225 feet high, built by Wren and finished by his pupil Hawksmoor, about 1740. In the centre of the front is the great Perpendicular window, beneath which is a row of niches. The entrance porch has a groined roof. The nave is remarkable for its length and height. On the north side we notice that there is a wealth of buttresses. Strong buttresses support the aisle walls, and from these flying-buttresses stretch across to the walls built on the central arcade. The four eastern buttresses comprise the part of the church finished by Henry III.; the rest of the nave, with the exception of Wren’s towers, was built during the last half of the Fourteenth Century and the beginning of the Fifteenth. The figures in the niches are modern.”—(P. H. D.)
The North Front is new, designed by Sir G. Scott and Mr. Pearson.
“It is a very elaborate work and much of it is beautiful; but it does not seem to harmonise with the rest of the building. There is a large rose-window; on each side tall buttresses crowned with turrets and covered with niches. There is an arcade of open-work below and then some deeply-recessed Early English windows, and below three doorways under one string-course, the centre one having a high gable. The door is divided by a pier having a finely-carved figure of the Virgin and Child. The tympanum is divided into three panels. In the highest is Our Lord in glory surrounded by angels and below him are the Twelve Apostles, while in the lowest tier are figures representing Art, History, Philosophy, War, Legislation and Science, with the builders of the Abbey, Edward the Confessor, Henry III. and Richard II. The niches are filled with figures of persons in some way connected with the Abbey. The Choir is in the form of an apse, with radiating chapels, planned on the model of the French chevet, according to the taste of Henry III., which he had cultivated during his sojourn in France. The Lady-Chapel at the east end, commonly called Henry VII.’s Chapel, is one of the noblest examples of the best Perpendicular work in the kingdom, and ranks with St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and King’s College, Cambridge. The monastic buildings are on the south side of the Abbey.”—(P. H. D.)
The ground plan is French, with a French chevet and chapels radiating from the Choir, and not only in the plan but in the narrowness and height of the bays of the Choir and in the tracery of the windows. French characteristics declare themselves. The nave is bordered with aisles. Beyond the Choir rises the central tower; and on either side the north and south transepts. The latter is known as the “Poets’ Corner.” Beyond comes the altar, around which many tombs crowd closely; and beyond them the North and South Ambulatory. Beyond again runs a circle of chapels. Then beyond this apse a flight of steps leading to Henry VII.’s Chapel, also crowded with tombs.
The Cloisters and Chapter-House lie on the south side of the Abbey; and on the right of the chief or West entrance, we find the famous Jerusalem Chamber, Jericho, and the Dining-Hall and Court—all part of the old Palace and demonstrating to strangers from over-sea the close connection between the religious and civic life of the British nation.