Westminster is such a fascinating place historically. When the Romans founded London in 44 CE it was down river from here in the area now known as the City. Westminster at that time was an island called Thorney Island surrounded by marshes. There was a small monastary there in 785 CE. but it was not until King Edward the Confessor in the 11th century that it gained its significance as a centre for both the crown and religion. He built here not only his palace, but the mighty Westminster Abbey, consecrated in 1065. It was here that the Norman King William the Conqueror was crowned after the Battle of Hastings one year later. It was still separate from the city, joined only by a track along the Thames known as the Strand which became lined with huge mansions for the heads of the church, nobility and the law. Now home to the British Parliament as well as the Abbey and Buckingham Palace, it retains its unique significance.

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