Westminster Abbey on June 11 opened a new museum in its "secret attic", which used to be used as a warehouse. About this space the poet John Betchaman once said that from here "the best view in all Europe" opens up. You can get here through a new tower, designed by Ptolemy Dean. This is the first extension to the old church since the construction of the towers of Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1745.

Until 2015 in Westminster Abbey worked another museum, located in the crypt of the XI century. The new site holds about 300 exhibits, four times more than the previous one. The exhibition consists of four parts: "The Construction of Westminster Abbey", "Worship and Everyday Life", "Westminster Abbey and Monarchy", "Westminster Abbey and National Memory".

Key exhibits Section "Construction of Westminster Abbey". Altarpiece. 1296. Photo: The Dean and Chapter of Westminster The altarpiece - one of the earliest wooden painted panels in England - was created in 1269. Later it was replaced by another and was discovered again in the 18th century, when the image served as the upper board of the buffet. Throughout the 20th century the panel was exhibited in the southern gallery of the church, in 1998-2005 it was restored.

Section "Westminster Abbey and Monarchy". Bust of Henry VII. Funeral busts of a number of monarchs are kept in the abbey, but in the artistic respect the most outstanding of them is the bust of Henry VII (1485-1509). The realism of the image suggests that the bust was created on the basis of a posthumous mask. The author of a sculpture made of wood and plaster, recently undergone restoration, is Pietro Torrigiano, an Italian sculptor who worked at the English royal court.

Section "Worship and daily life". Little Litlington's Prayer Book. Photo: The Dean and Chapter of Westminster This illuminated prayer book was donated to the abbey by Dean Lillington, who ordered him shortly before his death in 1386. Until now, the book was kept in the library of the abbey, and you could see it only by prior arrangement. In the new museum, the pages of the prayer book will be periodically turned over in accordance with the rules for storing and exhibiting fragile things.

Section "Abbey and National Memory".

A 300-year-old scarecrow parrot, which belonged to Francis Stewart, the Duchess of Richmond and Lennox. Photo: Eleanor Lovegrove This is probably the world's oldest stuffed bird. In the abbey there is a wax image of Francis Stewart (1647-1702), the Duchess of Richmond and Lennox, life-sized. In the last 40 years of the Duchess's life her constant companion was a parrot, which survived for only a few days. His scarecrow on a wooden perch has been stored for more than 300 years.