Edward the Confessor, King of England (1042-66), had lived in exile in Normandy for some time and it was while he was there that he saw the architecture that inspired him to create a great abbey in England.

Upon taking the throne he ordered the building of a great abbey church in Westminster. Over many years, craftsmen and labourers toiled at the construction of a building that would match the King's dream. It was not only to be a lasting memorial to Edward's faith in God, but also an abiding legacy to the country over which he ruled.

Edward's plans for his church were great and far reaching. Above all, he wanted it to be spectacular. It was to be completely different to any other church in the Kingdom and infinitely more magnificent.

The first task was to rebuild the monastery there, a short distance upstream from the thriving town of London. Then work began in earnest on the abbey itself. From all accounts, Edward's new church was a fine building in the romanesque style that he had come to love in Normandy. It was vast - 320 feet in length and it was the largest church in the realm.

In 1065 the church, though not completed, was consecrated. Edward however was too ill to attend and eight days later he died. Almost a year after Edward was laid to rest in his own church, it was the scene of another royal occasion - perhaps the most significant in the church's history. After beating Harold, William Duke of Normandy and Conqueror of England had himself consecrated King there on Christmas day 1066.

Though the abbey Edward so lovingly planned has now almost completely vanished in subsequent centuries of reconstruction, the spirit of the saintly ruler who founded the abbey lives on in this mighty building.