Westminster Abbey

National Heritage List for England Data

Westminster Abbey is listed on the National Heritage List for England with the following data. Some information may have become outdated since the date of listing. Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

TQ 3079 NW and SW CITY OF WESTMINSTER BROAD SANCTUARY SW1 92/57 ;101/1 Westminster Abbey (The 24.2.58 Collegiate Church of St Peter) (Formerly listed under General)

GV I

Abbey church. Edward the Confessor's church of c.1050-65, rebuilding begun by Henry III, 1245; the chancel, transepts and 5 bays of nave completed by 1269; new nave and west front 1375-1400 by Henry Yevele master mason, completed 1506, excluding the upper part of the west towers; Henry VII Chapel begun as new Lady Chapel 1503, completed as Chantry chapel c.1512, probably by Robert and William Virtue; the west towers 1735-40 by Hawksmoor; major C18 and C19 restorations by Wren, Henry Keene, James Wyatt, Benjamin Wyatt, Blore, Sir George Gilbert Scott and J. C. Pearson, as Surveyors to the Fabric; "anti- scrape" preservation introduced by Micklethwaite and Lethaby. Reigate stone with Huddlestone stone for Henry VII's Chapel. Geometrical gothic, exceptionally French in plan with aisled, 11-bay nave, transepts and chancel with ambulatory and radiating chapels, and French in the height of the vault with its 2 tiers of flying buttresses. Specifically English in the distinguishing feature of a full gallery instead of a triforium and in the way in which Yevele's nave respectfully continues the style of the Henry III work. Yevele's Perpendicular appears on the west front and porch, very similar to his Westminster Hall design. Henry VII's Chapel has boldly modelled Late Perpendicular detailing. The west towers have Hawksmoor's individual blending of Gothic verticality with Baroque details...

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