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Rab: Oh this is it, Jamesie.
Jamesie: The place where they make Buckfast.
[both fall to knees and pray]: We worship you, oh great place of swelly. Rab C Nesbitt s4e3: Buckfast, BBC 1994
Rab to Monk: My pal here is actually looking for a miracle, so if you could maybe point us in the direction of the Holy Grotto. ibid.
Bury St Edmunds: Man who put chunk of Abbey Ruins up for sale on eBay apologises to town. EADT news 12th June 2011 article Lawrence Cawley 12th May 2011
History in the taking: Thieves stole a chuck of an 11th Century abbey and tried to sell it on eBay. The Star article 7th May 2011
Beatle’s home Abbey Road Studios up for sale. The Telegraph online news 12th June 2011
Abbey (Lat. abbatial from Syr. abba father): A monastery or conventual establishment under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess. A priory only differed from an abbey in that the superior bore the name of prior instead of abbot. This was the case in all the English conventual cathedrals e.g. Canterbury, Ely, Norwich etc. where the archbishop or bishop occupied the abbot’s place, the superior of the monastery being termed prior. Other priories were originally offshoots from the larger abbeys, to the abbots of which they continued subordinate; but in later times the actual distinction between abbeys and priories was lost. 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica
That temple of silence and reconciliation where the enmities of twenty generations lie buried. Thomas Babington Macaulay, Essays Contributed to the Edinburgh Review 1843, re Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey has stood by the banks of the River Thames in London since the Middle Ages. And follows a cycle of worship with traditions that stretch back to the birth of Christianity. Westminster Abbey I, BBC 2012
Fifteen full-time staff have the formidable task of maintaining this historic monument. ibid.
Henry III rebuilt the Abbey and much of the building we see today dates from his reign. ibid.
Founded by Catholic monks in 960 A.D. a church has stood in London on the banks of the Thames for over a thousand years. Westminster Abbey II
Autumn at Westminster Abbey marks the start of the period known in the Christmas calendar as Michaelmas. Westminster Abbey III
The Dean assisted by a senior lay executive and four senior clergy called Canons. ibid.
The proposals for the development of the Triforium would create the most radical alteration to the exterior of this world heritage site since architect Nicholas Hawksmoor added his famous west towers in the eighteenth century. ibid.
Westminster Abbey: Britain’s most famous church. For nearly a thousand years this incredible building has been at the very heart of British public life. And it’s our Royal Family’s church. It’s here that for centuries kings and queens have held their greatest royal occasions. Inside ... s1e3: Westminster Abbey, Channel 5 2017
17 monarchs are buried in the Abbey, 38 kings and queens have been crowned here, and Kate and William are about to become the 16th royal couple to marry here. ibid.
1950: ‘The Stone of Destiny, which had been there for 600 years, was stolen from the Coronation Chair.’ ibid. Movietone News
Every detail of Mountbatten’s [funeral] plan was carried through. ibid.
Westminster Abbey has commissioned a new stained glass window. (Artists: Hockney & Abbey) Alan Yentob, Imagine … Hockney, the Queen and the Royal Peculiar, BBC 2018
Since the monks arrived here in 960 AD, Westminster Abbey has evolved through the ages. The Gothic masterpiece here today dates from the reign of Henry III in the 13th century. Over the years chapels, towers, windows and tombs have been added. ibid.
Alongside hundreds of castles they built abbeys and cathedrals on a scale never seen before in England. Professor Robert Bartlett, The Normans II 2010
Westminster Abbey: a place intrinsically linked to a thousand years of royal history. A place where monarchs are crowned, married and remembered. Westminster Abbey: Behind Closed Doors I, Channel 5 2022
To make ends meet, it must rely almost entirely on the money it makes from selling tickets to tourists. ibid.
In a very special service, Prince Philip is remembered. Westminster Abbey: Behind Closed Doors II
With the Abbey hosting memorials of national importance, it’s crucial that its ancient structure is in tip-top shape. ibid.
‘There are documents and archives and records here going back to the tenth century.’ Westminster Abbey: Behind Closed Doors III, keeper of muniments
Only a tiny fraction enter the secret realm of Jan Pancherin, the Abbey’s head gardener. Westminster Abbey: Behind Closed Doors IV
An ad-hoc interim plan before any final decision is taken. The Wednesday Play: Pity About the Abbey by John Betjeman, developers, opening scene, BBC 1966
As you see I left Whitehall untouched. ibid.
And there’s no question which of the three is most in the way of a viable and comprehensive development. ibid.
Daughter: What have you done with the Abbey?
Daddy: Got rid of it. ibid.
It’s a scheme to build a Westminster Roundabout; the Abbey just happened to be in the way. ibid. daughter to boyfriend
We met over our scheme for a multi-storey car park in Salisbury Cathedral Close. Have you heard any more of it? ibid. Whitehall knob