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westminster abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter, which is almost always referred to as Westminster Abbey is mainly a Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral located on the corner of Parliament Square just to the west of The Houses of Parliament.
Edward became King in 1042 and decided to concentrate all of his efforts on the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey. The old abbey had never really flourished, it had been sacked by the Vikings and abandoned. But Edward wanted his new abbey to be special and decided to leave his palace in The City of London and move up river into the countryside and establish a new palace in Westminster. The buildings that Edward the confessor started are some of the most renound buildings in the world. His abbey was eventually pulled down and a new one begun by Henry III in the 13th Century. The new Westminster Abbey has been a place for the coronation and burial of British monarchs ever since 1066 including William the Conqueror and every monarch since with the exception of Edward V and VIII whom neither was crowned.

The abbey took 5 centuries to complete but maintained its original gothic style started in the 13th century. The white stone was imported from con in northern France by King Henry. The Twin Towers of the west end were only completed in 1735 and sore some 200 feet into the air, the building is a perfect example of early English gothic style architecture.
In the nave lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, commemorating the one million British soldiers who died in the first World War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_abbey)

westminster abbey
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