Westminster Abbey Cloisters: Walks, Garden and Café

Short answer: yes, you can visit the Westminster Abbey cloisters. They are part of the standard Abbey ticket, along with College Garden, the Chapter House and the Pyx Chamber. The four covered walks date mainly from the 13th to the 15th centuries. The Cellarium Café sits at the end of the West Cloister.

What is in each of the four cloister walks?

Each of the four walks had its own job when the Abbey was a monastery. The Abbey’s history page describes them like this:

• East walk: the Abbot held his Maundy here on Maundy Thursday. The doors to the Chapter House and to the old dormitory, now the Abbey Library, open off it.
• South walk: this led to the refectory, the monks’ dining hall.
• West walk: the novices, who were children, were taught and played games here.
• North walk: used for study and reading.

According to Wikipedia, the north cloister and the northern end of the east cloister date to about 1250, and the rest from 1352 to 1366. A fire in 1298 damaged much of the area and forced a large rebuild. Gas lamps replaced oil lamps in 1816, and gas lamps still burn near the cloister entrance today.

The walls and floors are full of memorials. The cloisters hold the graves of several abbots from the Norman church, clergy, Abbey officials including organists, workmen, and some actors and actresses. In the garth, the open lawn in the middle, a memorial fountain commemorates Lancelot “Capability” Brown, the landscape gardener. The cloisters are also among the quietest parts of the Abbey, the Abbey’s sensory map notes.

Is College Garden the oldest garden in England?

The Abbey calls College Garden “the oldest cultivated garden in England”. Wikipedia says it has been in use for 900 years and began as the monks’ medicine garden. You reach it from the cloisters through the Dark Cloister and the Little Cloister.

The Abbey includes the garden in its suggested two-hour visit, as “a moment of peace” in central London. It is part of general admittance, so there is no extra charge.

Can you visit the cloisters without a ticket?

The Abbey’s opening-times page lists the Cloisters as part of general admittance, which is the paid sightseeing ticket. It does not describe a free route into them for sightseers. The adult ticket is £32 (about $43); children 6 to 17 pay £14, and under-6s go free.

Services are free and open to all, but they take place in the church, and you may be asked to leave some areas while a service is on.

If you use a wheelchair or want to avoid steps, note the route. There are 5 steps into the cloisters from Poets’ Corner and 5 from the nave. The Abbey’s step-free option is to leave by the Great West Door and come back in through the cloister entrance in Dean’s Yard. Ask an Abbey Marshal before you leave, since entry is single-use.

The Cellarium Café

The Cellarium Café and Terrace is at the end of the West Cloister, reached by a lift. It opens at 8:00am on days the Abbey is open to visitors, with breakfast until 11:30am, lunch from noon, and last orders at 3:30pm. The Abbey’s food page says it is for people “visiting the Abbey or just popping into the café”. A separate Kiosk outside the West Doors serves snacks and drinks from 8:00am to 5:00pm.

If you stop at the café during your visit and want to go back into the church, speak to an Abbey Marshal first.

Plan your cloister visit

Most visitors reach the cloisters near the end of the route, after Poets’ Corner. Allow 20 to 30 minutes for the walks, the Chapter House and the garden. The Abbey advises booking ahead in busy periods. The Westminster Abbey entrance ticket is the Abbey’s own ticket at $43, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. It is not a skip-the-line ticket. For the rooms off the east walk, read our guide to the Chapter House and Pyx Chamber. For lunch outside the precincts, see restaurants near Westminster Abbey.