Why is Westminster Abbey so narrow?

The Abbey has the highest Gothic vault in England (nearly 102 feet) and it was made to seem higher by making the aisles narrow. The Englishness is also apparent in the elaborate mouldings of the main arches, the lavish use of polished Purbeck marble for the columns and the overall sculptural decoration.



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In 1560, Elizabeth re-established Westminster as a royal peculiar – a church of the Church of England responsible directly to the sovereign, rather than to a diocesan bishop – and made it the Collegiate Church of St. Peter (that is, a non-cathedral church with an attached chapter of canons, headed by a dean).

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Around 3,330 people are buried at the abbey, among them some of the great figures of British history. They include Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, Samuel Johnson, Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Tennyson, Henry Purcell, William Wilberforce, Laurence Olivier, Thomas Hardy and eight prime ministers.

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The choice of Westminster Abbey was the late Queen's herself. It was a place of enormous significance to her. It was where she saw her father, George VI, be crowned King, knowing that one day she would follow suit.

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The two monarchs who did not have any coronation were Edward V (the boy king), who was presumed murdered in the Tower of London before he could be crowned, and Edward VIII who abdicated 11 months after succeeding his father and before the date set for his coronation.

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