A June opening date has been announced for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries which are due to open in Westminster Abbey's Medieval triforium next year.
The triforium gallery runs 70 feet above the abbey floor and has been hidden to the public for over 700 years. The new spaces will be known as the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries.
A new museum constructed in the gallery itself will give visitors ‘magnificent views’ outside to the Palace of Westminster and inside to the 13th century abbey church. The museum will display treasures and collections reflecting the abbey's rich and varied thousand-year history.
According to Westminster Abbey, the project will preserve the ‘contemplative atmosphere’ of the space whilst displaying treasures like royal funeral effigies, manuscripts, silverware, stonework and vestments.
Groups will also get to see highlights such as the Liber Regalis, a 14th century illuminated manuscript setting out the order for Coronations, and the Westminster Retable, said to be England's oldest altarpiece.
Groups visiting Westminster Abbey
Private guided tours for up to 30 visitors can visit Westminster Abbey during normal opening hours and should be accompanied by a Blue Badge Guide. GTOs can book a Blue Badge Guide through Guide London, or the British Guild of Registered Tourist Guides.
Groups can also visit without a guide, but will need to buy individual tickets. Note that if you visit without a Blue Badge Guide, groups are asked to divide into smaller groups of no more than five to avoid overcrowding.
For further information visit www.westminster-abbey.org.
