Share Our World: England: Highlights of Westminster Abbey

How would you like to take a walk around a stunning and historic building in London? I would like to show you my favorite parts of Westminster Abbey.

Ceilings

Wow the ceilings in Westminster Abbey are incredible. Especially in the Lady Chapel. Which is the one you see below. It has a stunning fan-vaulted ceiling.

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I was amazed at the beauty of the fan-vaulted ceiling here in Westminster and I also got to see the largest fan vault in the world at **King's College Chapel Cambridge** when I went to Cambridge. Fan vaulting is used in Gothic architecture in England. The earliest example is from Gloucester in 1351. Lady's Chapel at Westminster was built in 1503-1509 King's College Chapel 1512-1515

![PXL_20250723_102331525~2-XL.jpg](https://photos.smugmug.com/Personal/Trips/2025/England/Days/n-HLtGkF/July-23/i-b59X8ZL/0/LrB5VQLrkRX9bs53PV5hnR3TW9D4JGsSzVPXbpmcc/XL/PXL_20250723_102331525~2-XL.jpg) King's College Chapel, Cambridge

Here is a view of the Lady's Chapel from the outside. It is right on Abingdon St. facing The Parliament buildings.

Cellarium Cafe and Terrace

I started my day with breakfast at the Cellarium Cafe and Terrace. This restaurant is located at the end of the west cloister. It was so cool to eat in this medieval room.

The restaurant is open from 8am-4pm. I got a nice simple breakfast of eggs and toast for around $11 USD.

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Gothic Details

What a gorgeous Gothic church. Look at the details.

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As a tourist we enter the North door under the Rose Window. Admission costs $40.67 (£31) for adults and I also purchased a Verger Tour for ($13.40) £10 more. This tour was totally worth it!

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So you can get your barring a little bit- here is the floor plan.

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Stained Glass

There is beautiful stained glass windows from 1700s- to the present. The window on the left is the new Queen's window and was made by David Hockney in 2018. It is really quite different than all the other windows in the abbey.

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College Garden

Here is a screenshot of Google maps of Westminster Abbey. You can see the layout of the abbey, the Cellarium Cafe and Terrace where I ate breakfast and the Lady Chapel closest to Abingdon St.

At the bottom past the cloisters is the College Garden. Google maps has a little note that says "hidden garden for over 900 years". I loved this garden. It was beautiful and peaceful and most of the tourist were in the main building while I enjoyed the garden before my Verger Tour.

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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oWAYucK4Xy0

Cloisters

Here are some pictures of the beautiful cloisters at Westminster Abbey. A cloister is a covered open air courtyard used move between places and for meditation and rest.

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Paintings

There are some wonderful paintings in Westminster Abbey. These two are made in the Byzantine style by Sergei Federov and installed in 1994.

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This is a picture of King Richard II and was painted around 1395. Richard died in 1400 and his tomb and many other monarchs are buried in the abbey. Seeing this painting of Richard II was especially interesting and exciting to me. Later that day I saw the Wilton Diptych at the National Gallery of Art which was a private religious piece for King Richard II and was made in 1395-1399. Amazing! ![PXL_20250717_123544111.PORTRAIT~2-XL.jpg](https://photos.smugmug.com/Personal/Trips/2025/England/Days/n-HLtGkF/July-17/i-4NH5tNW/0/MZtd356hkfK9PPXjtTDbHTLWQDf5k5q9xmCLrdCHh/XL/PXL_20250717_123544111.PORTRAIT~2-XL.jpg)

I also got to see Richard II tomb. There were no pictures allowed on that part of the tour. It was very special since I have studied the Wilton Diptych so much.

Poets Corner

This part of the abbey is where writers are buried or have memorials.

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Westminster Abbey is 32,000 square feet (3,000 m2) so these are only a few of the highlights. It is a place I would go back to again, for sure. I would like to spend a lot more time there.

Sources and links: Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey: Wikipedia Westminster Food and Drink Westminster Cellarium Cafe and Terrace Westminster Abbey History Westminster Abbey Prices and Entry Fan vaulting Westminster Stained Glass Westminster Oil Paintings

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