Chapter House Westminster Abbey and the Pyx Chamber

Short answer: the Chapter House is the eight-sided meeting room the monks of Westminster used from the 1250s. It has one of the finest medieval tile floors in England, wall paintings of the Apocalypse and the Last Judgement, and a claim to be where the English Parliament began. The Pyx Chamber, the old treasury, is a few steps away in the same cloister. Both are included in the standard Abbey ticket.

What is the Chapter House at Westminster Abbey?

The Chapter House is the octagonal room where the monks met each day for business. The Abbey says it was probably begun in 1246 and finished around 1255, as part of Henry III’s rebuilding, with Henry of Reyns in charge of the work.

The room is 18 metres (60 feet) across inside. Tiered stone seating around the walls held up to eighty monks. A single central pillar rises in the middle and fans out into the vaulted ceiling.

Look down as well as up. The Abbey calls the floor “one of the finest medieval tile pavements in England”. The tall windows were reglazed in the 1860s, when Sir George Gilbert Scott rebuilt the vault and the roof between 1866 and 1872. Much of that glass was damaged in Second World War air raids, and some of it was salvaged and reused.

On your way in, look at the door in the covered entrance passage. The Abbey says it is claimed to be the oldest door in Britain, believed to date back to the 1050s.

What are the Chapter House wall paintings?

The paintings show scenes from the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. The Last Judgement, dating from about 1390, is on the east wall. The Apocalypse scenes are framed with scrolls of text.

These are among the medieval wall paintings the Abbey lists as highlights of a visit. Large parts have faded, so give your eyes a minute to adjust before you look for the figures.

Did Parliament meet in the Chapter House?

Yes, at the start. The Abbey says the King’s Great Council met here in 1257, which it calls “effectively the beginning of the English Parliament”. In the 14th century the House of Commons met here for a few years, before moving to the Abbey’s refectory.

After the monks left in 1540, the room changed use again. It became a store for State records until 1863, and Scott’s restoration began three years later. Today, the Chapter House is in English Heritage guardianship but cared for by the Dean and Chapter, according to Wikipedia.

What is the Pyx Chamber?

The Pyx Chamber is a vaulted room off the East Cloister and one of the oldest parts of the Abbey. It is part of the undercroft beneath the monks’ dormitory, built about 1070. It was walled off in the 12th century and became a treasury in the 13th.

The name comes from the pyxes: wooden boxes that held gold and silver coins waiting for the Trial of the Pyx. That test of the coinage was established in 1281 and still takes place today, at Goldsmiths’ Hall in the City of London.

Two heavy oak doors with seven locks, from the early 14th century, guard the entrance. Inside is a stone table that was used to test silver. The Abbey stresses it is not an altar, though since 1988 it has served as one for occasional services. A viewing platform at the entrance lets you look in.

How they fit into your visit

Both rooms are part of the standard visit. The Abbey says general admittance includes the Cloisters, College Garden, Chapter House and Pyx Chamber. The adult ticket is £32 on the Abbey’s site (about $43), and the Abbey’s two-hour route suggests time in the cloisters and the Chapter House.

You reach them through the Cloisters, usually after Poets’ Corner. Allow 15 to 20 minutes for the two rooms. The Chapter House has steps, so check the step-free options on our Westminster Abbey map and in the cloisters guide.

The Westminster Abbey entrance ticket sold through our partner is the Abbey’s own ticket at $43, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Tickets bought on the Abbey’s site cost the same but cannot be refunded. For the story behind the rooms, read the history of Westminster Abbey.