The Henry VII Chapel, at the east end of the church, is a typical example of Perpendicular Gothic architecture; antiquarian John Leland called it orbis miraculum ("the wonder of the world").

The abbey is the burial site of more than 3,300 people, many prominent in British history: monarchs, prime ministers, poets laureate, actors, musicians, scientists, military leaders, and the Unknown Warrior.

[21] Westminster Abbey continued to be used as a coronation site, but after Edward the Confessor, no monarchs were buried there until Henry III began to rebuild it in the Gothic style.

Henry III wanted it built as a shrine to venerate Edward, to match great French churches such as Rheims Cathedral and Sainte-Chapelle,[22] and as a burial place for himself and his family.

[26] During the summer, there were up to 400 workers on the site at a time,[27] including stonecutters, marblers, stone-layers, carpenters, painters and their assistants, marble polishers, smiths, glaziers, plumbers, and general labourers.

[34][35] During the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, Richard prayed at Edward the Confessor's shrine for "divine aid when human counsel was altogether wanting" before meeting the rebels at Smithfield.

[44] In the 1530s, Henry VIII broke away from the authority of the Catholic Church in Rome and seized control of England's monasteries, including Westminster Abbey, beginning the English Reformation.

She has since been re-interred close to her husband, Henry V.[57] In 1685, during preparations for the coronation of James II, a workman accidentally put a scaffolding pole through the coffin of Edward the Confessor.

[62] Further rebuilding and restoration occurred in the 19th century under the architect George Gilbert Scott, who rebuilt sections of the chapter house and north porches, and designed a new altar and reredos for the crossing.

[64] In preparation for bombing raids during World War II, the Coronation Chair and many of the abbey's records were moved out of the city, and the Stone of Scone was buried.

[66] Two different designs for a narthex (entrance hall) for the west front were produced by architects Edwin Lutyens and Edward Maufe during World War II, but neither was built.

Instead of a short, square, eastern end (as was the English fashion), Westminster Abbey has a long, rounded apse, and it also has chapels radiating from the ambulatory, which is typical of a French Gothic style.

It sits between the chapter house and the Henry VII Chapel, and contains a lift shaft and spiral staircase to allow public access to the triforium, which contains the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries.

[124] The chapel, built in late Perpendicular Gothic style, inspired English poet John Leland to call it the orbis miraculum (the wonder of the world).

[126] It is noted for its pendant- and fan vault-style ceiling, probably designed by William Vertue, which writer Washington Irving said was "achieved with the wonderful minuteness and airy security of a cobweb".

At the centre of the chapel is the tomb of Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York, which was sculpted by Pietro Torrigiano[125] (who fled to England from Italy after breaking Michaelangelo's nose in a fight).

[134] They include the Jericho Parlour (covered in wooden linenfold panelling), the Jerusalem Chamber (commissioned in 1369), and a grand dining hall with a minstrels' gallery which is now used by Westminster School.

The abbey has the 13th-century Westminster Retable, thought to be the altarpiece from Henry III's 13th-century church and the earliest surviving English panel painting altatrpiece, in its collections.

[146] Those commemorated are Maximilian Kolbe, Manche Masemola, Janani Luwum, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, Martin Luther King Jr., Óscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Esther John, Lucian Tapiedi, and Wang Zhiming.

[118] At the crossing in front of Edward the Confessor's shrine and the main altar is the Cosmati pavement, a 700-year-old tile floor made of almost 30,000 pieces of coloured glass and stone.

[154] Geometric designs, such as those in the pavement, were thought to help the abbey's monks with contemplation, and conveyed medieval Christian ideas on the nature of the universe that could not easily be put into words.

[159] The north rose window was designed by James Thornhill and made by Joshua Price in 1722; it shows Christ, the apostles (without Judas Iscariot), the Four Evangelists, and, in the centre, the Bible.

[160] Thornhill also designed the great west window, which shows the Biblical figures of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as representatives of the Twelve Tribes of Israel underneath.

[82] The exhibits include a set of life-size effigies of English and British monarchs and their consorts, originally made to lie on the coffin in the funeral procession or to be displayed over the tomb.

[174] On the floor, just inside the Great West Door in the centre of the nave, is the grave of the Unknown Warrior: an unidentified soldier killed on a European battlefield during the First World War.

[180] Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, marked their silver, gold, and diamond wedding anniversaries with services at the abbey and regularly attended annual observances there for Commonwealth Day.

They are appointed by royal warrant on the recommendation of the dean and the Home Secretary, attend Matins and Evensong on Sundays, and perform requested duties for a small stipend.

[202] The almshouse was founded near the abbey by Henry VII in 1502, and the twelve almsmen and three almswomen were originally minor court officials who were retired due to age or disability.

[225] Westminster Abbey is mentioned in the play Henry VIII by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, when a gentleman describes Anne Boleyn's coronation.

[226] The abbey was mentioned in a 1598 sonnet by Thomas Bastard which begins, "When I behold, with deep astonishment / To famous Westminster how there restort / Living in brass or stony monument / The princes and the worthies of all sort".