Episode 1 of 2

Demolition of Old Chapel

When: 1502
Where: Eastern end of Westminster Abbey
Part of: Construction of Henry VII's Chapel at Westminster Abbey Begins

The 13th-century Lady Chapel was demolished in 1502 to make way for the new foundation.

Under Henry VII's direction, the existing 13th-century Lady Chapel was demolished in 1502. This cleared the site at the eastern end of the abbey for the construction of the new, more elaborate Perpendicular Gothic structure.

Sources

Henry VII Chapel Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-12
Westminster Abbey Wikipedia

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.