Introduction

Since William the Bastard, every coronation for English Monarchs has taken place at the Westminster Abbey. In 1220, King Henry III decided to rebuild the abbey to truly honor the late Saint Edward the Confessor. Henry III wished to remake the abbey into a gothic cathedral and this exhibit is to show what things remained the same, and how some things became fundamental parts of this newly erected cathedral. Here is an image of what the abbey looked like when it was built by St. Edward the Confessor. It was simple in design and Henry III felt that would change the abbey down to its core, bringing in foreign architects to move the abbey into the gothic era. The Pyx Chamber is the only structure that remains of the original abbey, a site they used as a treasury as they rebuilt the cathedral. Henry III went through his life laying the groundwork for a cathedral that others would constantly change. But, through Henry III, the coronation chair, the Lady Chapel, and the Shrine to Edward the Confessor, this cathedral is the ultimate shrine to Saint Edward.