Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey, where Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry on April 29, has a rich history that makes it one of London's top landmarks.

Benedictine monks first came to the site where Westminster Abbey stands in the 10th century. The area was then called Thorn Island. King Edgar (reigned 959-975) gave land to the monks.

Photo: Westminster Abbey

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Edward the Confessor, the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, had an abbey built on the grounds. It was consecrated on Dec. 28, 1065. Edward was canonized in 1161 by Pope Alexander III.

Photo: Catholic and Anglican clergy encircle the Shrine of St. Edward the Confessor during an Evensong service on Oct. 16, 2009, at Westminster Abbey in London.

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Monarchs have been crowned at the Abbey since William the Conqueror, leader of the Norman invasion, was crowned on Dec. 25, 1066.

Photo: St. Edward's Crown, the official crown of England.

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The Westminster Abbey website notes that the present building dates from King Henry III's reign (1216-1272). He ordered the east section of the Abbey that Edward the Confessor founded be pulled down and a shrine to Edward be built.

On Oct. 13, 1269, Edward the Confessor's remains were moved to the new shrine. The radiating chapels, transepts, apse and choir were already complete.

The Lady Chapel was started in 1503 by Henry VII and completed after his death. It replaced the 13th century chapel.

The west towers were completed in 1745.

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According to the Abbey's website, people who have served the Abbey in an official capacity may be buried there.

In addition, prominent British nationals may be buried there as well. That includes the "Poets' corner," with poet John Masefield interred in 1967 and actor Laurence Olivier buried in 1991.

Photo: Westminster Abbey, London, Nov. 23, 2010.

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Sir Isaac Newton is one of the prominent people buried at Westminster Abbey.

In addition to describing universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, he was a master of the Royal Mint and the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Trinity College. He died on March 20, 1727, and was buried at the Abbey on March 28.

Photo: Queen Elizabeth II lays a wreath on the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton during the annual Commonwealth Day Observance Service at Westminster Abbey in London, on March 8, 2010.

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An Elizabethan poet, Edmund Spenser, died in 1599 and was buried near Geoffrey Chaucer, sparking the idea for a "Poets' Corner."

Geoffrey Chaucer, writer of "The Canterbury Tales," died in 1400 and was the first poet to be buried in what became Poets' Corner.

He was buried in the Abbey because he was Clerk of Works to the palace of Westminster, not because of "The Canterbury Tales."

Photo: An illustrated 14th century manuscript of "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer

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Some of the other famous dead buried at Poets' Corner include Alfred, Lord Tennyson; William Shakespeare; John Dryden; and Percy Shelley.

Photo: Tennyson's gravestone in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey on Aug. 5, 2009, in London.

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King Henry VIII dissolved the monastery at the abbey in 1540.

His daughter, Queen Mary I, a Roman Catholic, restored the Benedictine monks to the abbey in 1556. She died in 1558.

Mary's successor, her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant, again removed the monks.

Photo: A portrait of King Henry VIII by Hans Holbein

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A general view of the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey on which King Henry VIII was throned in 1509, in London.

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Westminster Abbey's full name is the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster. It was established by Elizabeth I in 1560. It is also a royal peculiar; it falls under the jurisdiction of the monarch instead of a bishop.

Photo: A portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, painted by Steven Van Der Meulen.

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Many royals are buried at the Abbey. St. Edward the Confessor was the first monarch buried there, in January 1066.

Elizabeth I died in 1603, the last English monarch to have a monument erected for her at the Abbey.

Photo: The tomb of Queen Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey, Nov. 7, 2008.

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The last monarch interned at the Abbey is George II. According to Westminster Abbey's official website, a "lack of space for royal monuments and burials meant that subsequent monarchs were buried at Windsor."

Photo: The tomb of Queen Elizabeth I Westminster Abbey on Nov. 7, 2008, in London.

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Composer George Frideric Handel died April 14, 1759. He wrote the Coronation Anthems for the crowning of George II in 1727. "Zadok the Priest," the most famous of the anthems, has been sung at every coronation since.

Photo: A statue of composer George Frideric Handel sits above Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey on April 8, 2009, in London.

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Though Charles Darwin was an agnostic, the Bishop of Carlisle, Harvey Goodwin, thought it was appropriate that Darwin be interned at the Abbey.

Darwin is buried next to Sir John Herschel and just a few feet from Sir Isaac Newton.

Photo: This undated engraving shows Charles Darwin (1809-1882), father of the theory of evolution.

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Oscar Wilde died in 1900 and is buried at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. A stained glass window was dedicated to him at Westminster Abbey on Feb. 14, 1995.

Photo: The stained glass window reads, "1854 - Oscar Wilde - 1900."

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George VI had his coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 12, 1937. His brother, Edward VIII (later HRH the Duke of Windsor) abdicated, and George's coronation took place on the day set aside for what would have been Edward's.

Photo: From left, King George VI, Princess Margaret, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Queen Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mother), June 1, 1937.

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Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) married Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey on Nov. 20, 1947.

Photo: The wedding blessing of the Princess Elizabeth and Philip The Duke of Edinburgh, Nov. 20, 1947, at Westminster Abbey, in London.

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Queen Elizabeth II sits in Westminster Abbey, June 2, 1953, on her coronation day in London. Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen in 1952 at age 25. Her coronation was the first worldwide televised event.

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Queen Elizabeth II carries an orb and scepter during her coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey, June 2, 1953, in London.

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The newlywed Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, leaves hand-in-hand with her husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, from Westminster Abbey on their wedding day May 6, 1960. They divorced in 1978.

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Prince William and Prince Harry's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car accident on Aug. 31, 1997, in Paris. Her funeral was held at Westminster Abbey. She's buried at her family home at Althorp.

Photo: The coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, is carried into Westminster Abbey by the bearer party of Welsh Guardsmen for her funeral, Sept. 6, 1997, followed, from left to right, by Charles, the Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Diana's brother, the Earl Spencer, Prince William and the Duke of Edinburgh.

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The coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, is carried inside Westminster Abbey, Sept. 6, 1997.

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The coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, enters Westminster Abbey in London for the funeral ceremony on Sept. 6, 1997.

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Queen Elizabeth II's mother, Queen Elizabeth (more often known as the Queen Mother), is buried at Windsor Castle next to her husband, George VI, and daughter, Princess Margaret, but her funeral was held at Westminster Abbey at her request.

Photo: The Queen Mother's coffin arrives at Westminster Abbey for the funeral service, April 9, 2002. The funeral is the culmination of more than a week of mourning for the royal matriarch, who died on March 30 at the age of 101.

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Mario Testino/Clarence House Press Office via Getty Images

Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011.

Photo: Prince William and Kate Middleton pose in the Council Chamber in the State Apartment in St. James's Palace in London on Nov. 25, 2010.

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