Visit Westminster Places

Welcome to Visit Westminster Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Westminster

  

Westminster Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Westminster

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Westminster history

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Street names of Westminster include Westminster and Westminster. For a list of street name etymologies for Westminster see Street Names of Westminster. Westminster is the capital of the British Parliament.

Royal seat

Former Thorney Island, the site of Westminster Abbey, formed the historic core of Westminster . The abbey became the traditional venue of the coronations of the kings and queens of England from that of Harold Godwinson (1066) onwards . From about 1200 the Palace of Westminster, near the abbey, became the principal royal residence . Later the palace housed the developing Parliament and England’s law courts .

Medieval and Tudor

The settlement grew up around the palace and abbey, as a service area for them . Henry VIII’s Reformation in the early 16th century abolished the abbey and established a cathedral . The parish church, St Margaret’s Westminster served the wider community of the parish .

Victorian divide

Charles Booth’s poverty map showing Westminster in 1889 recorded the full range of income- and capital-bracket living in adjacent streets within the area . Central western area had become (by 1850) (the) Devil’s Acre in the southern flood-channel ravine of the River Tyburn . Westminster has shed the abject poverty with the clearance of this slum and with drainage improvement .

Westminster economy & business

High Commissions

Westminster hosts the High Commissions of many Commonwealth countries . Westminster hosts a number of high-commissions from many Commonwealth nations . Westminster is home to the UK’s highest-ranking Commonwealth Commission .

Education

Westminster School is a major public school which grew out of the abbey . The University of Westminster is attended by over 20,000 students .

Westminster geography / climate

Physical Geography

The City and Liberty of Westminster and other Westminster administrative units extended from the River Thames to the old Roman Road from the City to western England . Thorney Island lay between the arms of the former River Tyburn at its confluence with the Thames . The western boundary with Chelsea was formed by the similarly lost River Westbourne .

Localities

Westminster includes sub-districts of Soho, St James, Mayfair, Covent Garden, Pimlico, Victoria, Belgravia and Knightsbridge . Westminster merged with neighbouring Paddington and Marylebone in 1965 to form a larger modern borough .

Open spaces

The district’s open spaces include Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Buckingham Palace and St James’s Park . Hyde Park is one of the district’s most popular open spaces .

You can visit Westminster places with Walkfo Westminster to hear history at Westminster’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Westminster has 3269 places to visit in our interactive Westminster map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Westminster, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Westminster places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Westminster & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 3269 audio facts unique to Westminster places in an interactive Westminster map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Westminster Places Map
3269 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Westminster historic spots	Westminster tourist destinations	Westminster plaques	Westminster geographic features
Walkfo Westminster tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Westminster

  

Best Westminster places to visit

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Westminster has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Westminster’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Westminster’s information audio spots:

Kronenburgerpark The Kronenburgerpark is a park in the center of Nijmegen . It is close to the Central Railway Station and the Lange Hezelstraat . It touches the Parkweg are the remains of the medieval walls with the Kruittoren (powder tower)

Great Pilgrimage The Great Pilgrimage of 1913 was a march in Britain by suffragists campaigning non-violently for women’s suffrage, organised by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). Women marched to London from all around England and Wales and 50,000 attended a rally in Hyde Park.

Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk is a 7-mile (11 km) long circular walking trail in central London, England, dedicated to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Royal Parks Half Marathon The Royal Parks Half Marathon, first held in 2008, takes place each October, starting and finishing in Hyde Park. It is the only half marathon that travels through central London and four of the Royal Parks and is one of London’s largest half marathons, with over 16,000 participants.

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October 1851. It was the first in a series of World’s Fairs, exhibitions of culture and industry that became popular in the 19th century. The event was organised by Henry Cole and by Prince Albert, husband of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria. Famous people of the time attended the Great Exhibition, including Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Michael Faraday (who assisted with the planning and judging of exhibits), Samuel Colt, members of the Orléanist Royal Family and the writers Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, George Eliot, Alfred Tennyson and William Makepeace Thackeray. The opening music, under the superintendence of William Sterndale Bennett, was directed by Sir George Smart. The world’s first soft drink, Schweppes, was the official sponsor of the event.

Japanese Village, Knightsbridge The Japanese Village in Knightsbridge, London, was a late Victorian era exhibition of Japanese culture located in Humphreys’ Hall, which took place from January 1885 until June 1887. The exhibition employed around 100 Japanese men and women in a setting built to resemble a traditional Japanese village.

Bowater House Bowater House was a 17-floor office block at 68 Knightsbridge in London SW1, completed in 1958. The building occupied a site between Knightsbridge and South Carriage Road, at the southern edge of Hyde Park. It was demolished in 2006 and redeveloped by Candy & Candy to create One Hyde Park.

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End.

Bulgari Hotel and Residences The Bulgari Hotel and Residences is a luxury hotel in Knightsbridge, London. When it opened in 2012, it was the most expensive hotel in London.

Royal Cornwall Yacht Club Situated on the waterfront setting of the Greenbank area in Falmouth, the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club (RCYC) was formed in 1871, and is the 15th oldest “Royal” yacht club in England.

Visit Westminster plaques