Subject

Officially, The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster. According to tradition, there has been a religious establishment on the site since the seventh century. Construction of the present building started in 1245 in the reign of King Henry III, who had selected the site for his burial place, in honour of Edward the Confessor. In 1540 Henry VIII granted the abbey the status of a cathedral by charter. It is now the traditional church for coronations of British monarchs and royal weddings and funerals.