WESTMINSTER ABBEY RESTORATION MEDAL – CORONATION SITE LADY DIANA FUNERAL etc

$29.95

In stock

WESTMINSTER ABBEY RESTORATION MEDAL – CORONATION SITE / LADY DIANA FUNERAL Here is a genuineexample of amedallion produced for therestoration of London’s Collegiate Church of Saint Peter in Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey. This is made of nickel silver and lead taken from the Abbey (as it states on the medal itself). Mounted on a chain and boxed. After the demolition of a Norman church built on the site in the year 1050 by Edward the Confessor, work on the present structure was begun in 1245. The architect of the first building campaign was Henry of Reims, whose first hand knowledge of French High Gothic architecture is reflected in such details as the passage in the walls of the radiating chapels. In 1502, King Henry VII removed the axial radiating chapel from the church and in 1503 initiated the construction of a larger chapel to replace it. This chapel is a superb example of English Late Gothic architecture, a style characterized by fan-shaped vaults covered with delicate ribs and the use of tracery on all wall surfaces. Famous as the place where English sovereigns are crowned, the Abbey contains the 13th century coronation chair of Edward I, the Shrine of Edward the Confessor, the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, and the Poet’s Corner, with memorials to many of Britain’s greatest writers and the site of Lady Diana’s funeral in 1997. Measures approx 30 mm. Obverse & Reverse shown in the picture.