Cheyneygates
Cheyneygates is an ideal venue for meetings and lectures for up to 50 people and receptions for up to 60. The Library area of these rooms may also be available on occasions for a Board meeting or small exclusive dinner parties. The rooms are accessible by a long flight of stairs and therefore not suitable for anyone with restricted mobility.
The two rooms known as Cheyneygates which stand over the entrance to the cloisters of Westminster Abbey were originally part of the Abbot’s house of the Benedictine monastery.
In 1486 Cheyneygates was leased to Edward IV’s queen, Elizabeth Woodville, although she only lived there for a few months. She had twice sought sanctuary at Westminster (her son Edward V was born there), and later it was probably from Cheyneygates that she was persuaded to allow her younger son Richard, Duke of York, to join his brother in the Tower of London. Henry VII often dined with Abbot Islip here, and it was in these rooms that Sir Thomas More was kept in custody before his removal to the Tower.
After the Reformation the Abbot’s House became the Deanery and in the 19th century Cheyneygates was used as the Dean’s study. In 1941, however, the Deanery and Cheyneygates were badly damaged. The rooms were subsequently rebuilt and a new staircase was constructed from the cloisters below.
The large outer room is dominated by a Flemish ‘flowers and vases’ tapestry of late 16th or early 17th century date, believed to have been given to the Abbey by Sir Paul Pindar (d. 1650), a wealthy Royalist. Among the paintings are two views of the Abbey dated about 1735 and depicting proposed designs for a central cupola and additions to the west towers, neither of which were carried out. Both also show the houses which once stood along the north side of the Abbey. An interior view, also 18th century, provides a rare depiction of the 13th century choir stalls (destroyed in the 1770s) and of the organ in its original position.
Theatre Style: up to 50 people
Receptions: up to 60 people
Cabaret style: up to 35 people
Boardroom style: up to 26 people
For enquiries relating to hire charges, please email bookings@westminster-abbey.org
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