In a stunning announcement Monday morning, The Church of England — a denomination that traces its founding to King Henry VIII — has sold the historic Westminster Abbey to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The transfer, effective Tuesday, included not just the 1000-year-old church but several important relics and artifacts related to the property, including:
A precious fragment of the shroud of Edward the Confessor.
The 14th-century Litlyngton Missal.
The Coronation Chair in St George’s Chapel.
The Stone Of Scone, captured from the Scots in 1296.
The poet Geoffrey Chaucer’s remains were not included in the sale and will reportedly be relocated to another burial site outside of London.
“The sale price of $3.14 billion USD reflects an agreement between The Anglican Church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after an extended period of conversation and negotiation,” a statement explained. “The agreement does not detail prices for specific items but rather a price for the entire agreed-upon set of items, documents, and properties.”
Historian Ben Park, a professor at Sam Houston State University and author of the book American Zion said he received the news Monday from Justin Welby, who currently serves as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury, who was in tears.
Welby said he is in mourning because Westminster Abbey is more than just a historic building.
“Westminster Abbey has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British monarchs and a burial site for 18 English, Scottish, and British monarchs. At least 16 royal weddings have taken place at the abbey since 1100. This loss is irreplaceable.”
The sale was spurred in part due to the mounting financial troubles the Abbey’s legal owners, The British Royal Family, find themselves in. The cost of public relations crisis staff has risen exponentially since the 1980s and put severe pressure on the Royal Family’s solvency. The sale of such prime real estate was the only viable option King Charles had left.
For Justin Welby’s part, one thing that helps to ease the pain is knowing the LDS church “will preserve this treasured building with immaculate historic renovations.” For its part, the LDS church’s statement Tuesday emphasized that Westminster Abbey “will remain a historic building” and will still be open to the public for a period of 5 years, after which it will be converted into the London Central Temple.
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