Abbey receives generous support for The King Charles III Sacristy

Tuesday, 29th April 2025

Westminster Abbey has received two further generous contributions towards The King Charles III Sacristy, a new building which is being constructed to transform the welcome we offer our visitors and worshippers.

The Wolfson Foundation - long-term supporters of the Abbey who in recent years have also awarded grants towards The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries and exceptional funding during Covid - have made a grant of £750,000.

A private American donor, now living in London, has also made a gift of £1 million.

With this additional funding, the total raised to date is £5.8 million of the £13.9 million total cost of the project.

Earlier this month, the Abbey's Board made a commitment to proceed with construction of the new Sacristy up to the completion of the building's shell.

The Sacristy, which will be named in honour of HM The King, is being constructed to house state-of-the-art welcome, security and ticketing facilities, removing and replacing those currently occupying the north transept, and returning to the Abbey 11% of its floor space for active uses.

It is being built on the footprint of Henry III’s medieval Great Sacristy. Built in the 1250s and an integral part of Henry's church, the Sacristy was where the monks kept vestments, altar linens and other artefacts needed for their daily worship, allowing the Abbey itself to be preserved in all its beauty and wonder as a sacred space. There are indications that the Sacristy also played a crucial role in the life of the Abbey as a place for the formation of processions on church and state occasions.

Designed in sympathy with the Abbey's Gothic architecture, the new building will reflect the history of the original Sacristy by freeing the Abbey for worship and pilgrimage. It will once again serve as a gathering place on major state occasions.

The project will also see visitors and worshippers following in the footsteps of royalty by entering the Abbey through the Great West Door. From here, they will enjoy magnificent views of the full length of the church and be inspired by the Abbey as it really is: a House of God and a House of Kings.

The building is due to be completed by late 2026.