Secrets of the Abbey

In my first weeks at the Abbey, I walked through a tiny doorway onto the roof. It was an unexpected moment. I had a sense of crossing into a hidden space that few people ever see, and it stayed with me. It got me thinking about the Abbey’s many unique and intriguing doorways, and whether they could become a vehicle for a film that revealed the stories that exist beyond them. 

Doorways are powerful metaphors for storytelling. Think of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or Alice in Wonderland. There is something alluring about opening a door and discovering what lies on the other side. At Westminster Abbey, these thresholds lead not to fantasy worlds, but to real spaces shaped by centuries of spirituality, labour, and human experience. 

Putting this film together involved a lot of research in the Abbey’s archive. One of the main challenges was deciding what to include, many of the spaces contain multiple, overlapping stories, each compelling in its own way. Working closely with the Abbey Collection team, I began to identify the strongest stories that combined historical richness with the visual material needed to bring them to life. 

The result is Hidden Wonders of Westminster Abbey which takes viewers on a journey through the building, guided by award-winning tour guide and history influencer Katie Wignall. Her inquisitive, passionate, and warm on-screen presence invites viewers to step through these doorways to discover the stories behind them.

Stuart Hastie is a former Producer/Director for broadcast television, now working as a video producer at the Abbey.