Every coronation since 1066, the tombs of Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, Poets' Corner and the Unknown Warrior — a thousand years of British history in one Gothic church. Here is how to see it without the queue.
A Benedictine abbey stood here long before the Norman Conquest, and William the Conqueror was crowned in it on Christmas Day 1066. Every English and British monarch since has been crowned here, most recently King Charles III in 2023. The Gothic church you see today was begun in 1245 by Henry III, who rebuilt it as a shrine to Edward the Confessor.
The high altar and the Coronation Chair, used at coronations for more than seven centuries, sit near the royal chapels behind them: Henry VII's Lady Chapel with its astonishing fan-vaulted ceiling, and the tombs of Elizabeth I and her rival Mary, Queen of Scots. In the south transept, Poets' Corner honours Chaucer, Dickens, the Brontës and Shakespeare. Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin lie in the nave, near the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. High above the floor, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries (a separate timed ticket) show the Abbey's treasures and a unique view down into the church.
As a working church, the Abbey can close to visitors at short notice for services and state events, so check the official website the day before you go. Anyone may attend a service free of charge, and Choral Evensong is a beautiful way to hear the Abbey choir — but services are not tours. Photography is not permitted inside the church. Allow about two hours with the multimedia guide.
Combine the Abbey with the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and a walk along the South Bank in our complete London guide — or let the AI build your day-by-day itinerary.
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