Westminster Abbey

The cultural significance of Westminster Abbey is hard to overstate, but also hard to remember as you're shepherded around, forced to elbow fellow tourists out of the way to read a plaque or see a tomb. Edward the Confessor commissioned it as a church to St Peter on the site of a 7th-century version, but it was only consecrated on 28 December 1065. William the Conqueror had himself cronwed here on Christmas Day, 1066. With just two exceptions, every since has taken place in Westminster Abbey, and many royal, military and cultural notables are interred here, including Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. Poets' Corner is the final resting place of Geoffrey Chaucer, as are John Dryden, Samuel Johnson and Robert Browning. Henry James, DH Lawrence, TS Eliot and Dylan Thomas have dedications. The Abbey Museum celebrated its centenary in 2008.