The British nation's sacrament acquired its present appearance in 1745. The Church of Saint Peter on the territory of an old Benedictine monastery next to the Palace of Kings in Westminster was built in the 11th century for the Wessex king Edward the Confessor, but the first to be crowned here was Duke William the Conqueror. Starting in 1066, all English monarchs have been holding coronations and weddings in this church.
King Henry III Plantagenet has expanded the church, adding the Lady chapel, and continued to rebuild it in 1220. Since then, every year the king participated in the glorification of the Abbey. The oak coronation throne is famous for the fact that under it lies a stone that served as a pillow to Saint Jacob. The stone from Scone, sacred to the Scottish, was captured by Edward I Plantagenet in 1296 and became a Westminster Abbey relic.
Kings and queens, remarkable political activists, military generals, scientists and artists are buried here. Royal graves surround the High altar and the chapel of Henry VII, and in the corner of poets lie Chaucer, Dickens, Kipling. Beyond the altar fence lie premier ministers, including Churchill and Disraeli. The most famous burial is the grave of the Unknown Warrior - the only floor heastone on which stepping is prohibited.
