estminster Abbey is one of the most famous religious buildings in the world and one of London's key tourist sites. Built by Edward the Confessor in 1040, it has been the site of royal coronations since 1066. Anyone who watched the late Queen Elizabeth II's funeral will have seen its elegant gothic exterior and magnificent vaulted ceilings, while visitors will have walked by the graves and memorials of illustrious artists and writers, including Geoffrey Chaucer, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, Shakespeare and the Bronte sisters.
And this year, in the run up to the coronation of Britain's latest king, Charles III, visitors are paying particular attention to the Coronation Chair, the seat on which English monarchs have been crowned since 1308.
"You can find it behind glass in St George's Chapel, just near the Great West Doors of the Abbey beside a portrait of Richard II seated there," said Sue King, a Blue Badge tourist guide for London and the Abbey. "What you see is an old brown wooden chair, but there are accounts of how it was painted with images of kings, foliage and birds, gilded and fitted with precious stones. It's probably the oldest piece of furniture still in use in England."
