Chapter House, Westminster Abbey

The stone Abbey was built around 1045–1050 by King Edward the Confessor, who had selected the site for his burial: it was consecrated on December 28, 1065, only a week before the Confessor’s death and subsequent funeral. The attached Chapter House was built under King Henry III between 1245 and 1253. This octagonal room was built in the Geometric gothic style. A pier of eight shafts carries the vaulted ceiling. To the sides are blind arcading, remains of 14th-century paintings and numerous stone benches above which are innovatory large 4-light quatre-foiled windows. originally used by the monks for their daily meetings, it later became a meeting place of the King’s Great Council and the Commons.

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