The Abbey Museum is available for cocktail receptions and private views in the evenings on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 6pm to 9.30pm, for up to 150 persons.

The museum is housed in the magnificent vaulted undercroft beneath the former monks’ dormitory. This is of interest in itself, dating back almost to the foundation of the Abbey by King Edward the Confessor in 1065.

The centrepiece of the museum exhibition is the Abbey’s collection of royal effigies. This collection includes the funeral effigy of King Charles II (d.1685) dressed in his own garter robes, which have been cleaned and restored in the textile conservation workshop of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The collection also includes the head of the funeral effigy of King Henry VII (d. 1509) taken from a death mask, and an effigy of Horatio, Viscount Nelson, which was deemed by his contemporaries to be a remarkable likeness.

Other items on display include the thirteenth century Retable (or altarpiece) and replicas of the Coronation regalia; armour, including the Funeral Achievements of King Henry V; a bronze portrait of Sir Thomas Lovell, almost certainly by the Florentine sculptor Pietro Torrigiano; alabaster carvings designed by Grinling Gibbons and some panels of early medieval glass. These magnificent items are enhanced by the subtle lighting, which preserves the many valuable exhibits on view.

Receptions/private views: up to 150 people