Not to be confused with Westminster Cathedral, the Abbey has been the site of the church of the British royalty since Edward the Confessor built a Norman cathedral for his burial place in 1065, beginning a tradition of burying the kings and queens of England here that continued until 1760. The older Norman building, however, was replaced by Henry III with a much more Gothic cathedral, which continued to be improved upon in various ways through 1740 when Nicholas Hawksmoor finished erecting the western façade with its twin towers. The cluttered nature of the interior of Westminster Abbey bears witness to its traditional role as the place of remembering the great people of Britain, with hundreds of statues, busts and various other monuments to the likes of Sir Isaac Newton, Winston Churchill, and David Livingstone. Not only does this cathedral function to commemorate those already gone, Westminster is also the sight of coronations, royal weddings, and other important official ceremonies. Not under the command of a particular bishop, this cathedral belongs directly to the office of the monarch.
