Now, here is where it gets really funny. The two big towers at the front? The ones that make the Abbey look so iconic? Those weren’t finished until the 1700s. Yes, you read that right. Over 400 years after Henry III broke ground.
Why the delay? Eh, they got busy. Wars, plagues, lack of cash – you know, typical medieval project management issues. It wasn’t until the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor stepped in that the towers finally went up between 1722 and 1745. Talk about a late addition to the party.
So, if you’re counting from 1245 to 1745, that’s a solid 500 years. But let’s be real: it’s still not “done.” The Abbey is like a living organism. It keeps shifting, evolving, and getting new bits.
The Great Plague and the Workers
Imagine being a stonemason in 1348. You’re chipping away at a column, and suddenly Bubonic Plague hits. Construction just stopped. For decades. Crews died off, money dried up, and the half-finished Abbey loomed over London like a giant, unfinished puzzle.
How Long Did It Take To Build Westminster Abbey | Detroit Chinatown
It wasn’t laziness; it was survival. And then you have the Hundred Years’ War with France. Not exactly a great time to invest in fancy stonework. So the Abbey sat there, a beautiful skeleton, for generations.
When they finally got back to work, the style had even changed. The early Gothic sections are different from the later, fancier Decorated Gothic parts. It’s a architectural mixtape of different centuries.
