Exterior view of the Henry VII Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey, London
Image details
Contributor:
John Gaffen / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
DBE3B5File size:
60.2 MB (3.8 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
5616 x 3744 px | 47.5 x 31.7 cm | 18.7 x 12.5 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
19 July 2013Location:
Westminster Abbey, City of Westminster, London, UK.More information:
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the most notable religious buildings in the United Kingdom, and is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English, later British monarchs. The abbey is a Royal Peculiar, and between 1540 and 1550 had the status of a cathedral. According to a tradition first reported by Sulcard in about 1080, a church was founded at this site (then known as Thorn Ey (Thorn Island)) in the 7th century, at the time of Mellitus (d. 624), a Bishop of London. Construction of the present church was begun in 1245 by King Henry III. Since 1066, when King Harold and William the Conqueror were crowned, the coronations of English and British monarchs have been held here. Since 1100, there have been at least 16 royal weddings at the abbey. Two were of reigning monarchs (Henry I and Richard II), although before 1919 there had been none for some 500 years. The Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the Henry VII Chapel, is a large Lady chapel at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey, paid for by the will of Henry VII. It is separated from the rest of the abbey by brass gates and a flight of stairs. The structure of the chapel is a three-aisled nave composed of four bays. The apse of the chapel contains the altar, and behind that, the tombs of Henry VII and his wife as well as of James I. There are five apsidal chapels.[ The chapel is noted for its pendant fan vault ceiling. The chapel is built in a very late Perpendicular Gothic style, the magnificence of which caused John Leland to call it the orbis miraculum. The tombs of several monarchs including Henry VII, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, Mary I, James I, Charles II and Mary, Queen of Scots are found in the chapel.