Accessible Westminster Abbey Tour
A London Tour Should Include This Famous Church
Westminster Abbey is a must-see for most London tourists. Information on access for wheelchairs, hearing loops, Braille, and comments on taking children there.
Westminster Abbey is a Tourist Favourite
One of the sites most tourists want to see on a London vacation is Westminster Abbey. This is where Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in the tradition of English royal coronations. It's also where Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer and where the funeral of Princess Diana (as she became) took place.
This great building has been one of England's leading churches since 1066, when it started as a shrine.
Tours and Audioguides are Available
Westminster Abbey tours are available from guides on the spot. It is easy to take a self-guided tour of Westminster Abbey, with or without a rented audioguide.
Wheelchair Accessibility is Partly Limited
Westminster Abbey is generally accessible to wheelchairs and slow walkers. There is a hearing loop for all church services, and large print and Braille guides are available from the Information desk.
People who are permanent wheelchair users, and their carers, will not be able to visit all parts of the Abbey. The Abbey offers free admission via the North entrance for you. The well-known Poet's Corner is wheelchair-accessible. For orientation, the north end of the building, for wheelchair access, is closest to Big Ben and the River Thames.
When the Abbey is crowded, the line-up for general entry can be slow. The general public entrance is via the great door on the west side of the building. There is nowhere to sit while lining up. Once inside, however, you will be able to sit at will. Just don't interrupt the church services if they are in progress.
Guided tours of Westminster Abbey can be arranged, and this may be an excellent option if you want to be a little bit out of the mainstream – but you will always contend with some crowds if it happens to be a busy day there.
Why go to Westminster Abbey?
A visit to Westminster Abbey is worthwhile but it's not for everyone. In particular, it would not generally be recommend it for children unless they are particularly interested in something they will learn about there. However, if you may never visit London again, a short visit to Westminster Abbey is appropriate for children of school age.
Tombs of Royalty and Nobles
Kings and queens, including the Tudor Queen Elizabeth I and her sister Mary, knights and ladies, poets and writers, churches and cathedrals, and the architecture of great buildings are some of the topics a child might be interested in. There are a number of old tombs with effigies of knights and ladies. The effigies are beautiful, near life-size stone carvings of the people in full dress, the knights with their armour and the ladies with their ruffles and lace. These can really thrill little guys who like stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, or princesses in towers – but much else in the Abbey will not appeal to children so you have to bear that in mind.
The audio guide, available to rent at the entrance, is recommended, particularly if you don't know much about English history. As you travel through the Abbey on a self-guided tour, listening to the audio guide, you will begin learning why this building and the people whose monuments lie within are important. You will find yourself making connections.
You don't have to go into Westminster Abbey to have the experience of appreciating its grandeur. There is much to see outside. Merely to look closely at the intricate carvings above the west door, for example, is an inspiration. Stand back and consider that this great place was built of stone by human hands, one piece at a time, and compare that to today's modern concrete towers, and you will begin to feel the spirit of the place.
For Americans, there is a whole list of connections between Westminster Abbey and the U.S.A. In the nave, for example, there is a plaque commemorating Franklin D. Roosevelt.
As a Canadian, it can be moving to see the monument to Sir John Franklin, who died trying to find the Northwest Passage – the sea route through the Arctic that connects the Atlantic to the Pacific. Franklin's epitaph is just one of the jewels of the Abbey, and is almost insignificant in the greater scheme, but it is the jewels which make the trip worthwhile.
Here is what Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote for Franklin.
"Not here! the white North has thy bones, and thou
Heroic sailor-soul
Art passing on thine happier voyage now
Toward no earthly pole."
Further resources:
Rick Steves' Easy Access Europe
