Choral Evensong service at Westminster Abbey

Share this page Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Email

My review of Evensong at Westminster Abbey

Worth a visit? ★★★Good value? freeGood for kids? ★☆☆

Reviewed by Craig Cross on 6 September 2026

You know you're getting old when you'd rather go to a choral evensong at Westminster Abbey than have a night down the pub, but ah well - I am at that stage in life now. I am officially an adult.

Let me just start by saying that I'm not religious in the slightest - I make Richard Dawkins look like the Pope. But I don't think it really matters when it comes to enjoying a service at Westminster Abbey because there certainly isn't any pressure to convert. They don't make you sing the songs or take Holy Communion or anything like that. As long as you respect what's going on then I reckon even the devil himself could get in.

The normal tourist entrance is at the Great North Door but if you're just here for the service then you need to meet by the Great West Door (next to the shop). The sightseers get kicked out between 4 and 4.30 PM and the line will quickly lengthen after that. (If you paid to enter the Abbey beforehand then the staff might be nice and let you wait inside for the service to start, but this doesn't always seem to be the case - there's no harm in asking.)

Photo: londondrum.com

There are two kinds of seat and if you want the best ones then I recommend that you start queuing by 4 PM. The line hugs the front of the shop and then bends round the corner towards Dean's Yard and if you're not standing by the shop then you won't make it into the Quire - that's the row of stalls directly behind the choir. If you're close to Dean's Yard then you should have a decent view of the Quire and Cosmati Pavement, but any further than that and you'll probably be stuck at the back of the north and south transepts.

The queue will start moving at 4.30 PM and once you're through the bag search you'll be ushered up the left-hand side of the nave past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Isaac Newton's memorial. One of the priests will be walking up and down the line holding a big QR code so you can bring up the order of service on your phone. Then you have to wait a few minutes until they open up the seats.

It's during this lull in the proceedings that you can have a quick look around at the memorials on the floor and walls. You can't actually go anywhere though - you're all herded behind a rope into a very small area, so don't go thinking that this is a cheap way of doing some sightseeing because it's not. If you want to see the rest of the Abbey then you'll have to stump up some money for an entry ticket.

I've managed to get myself a decent seat near the front with a great view of the Cosmati pavement where our kings and queens are crowned. Unfortunately I haven't been quite so lucky with my neighbour who has kicked off her socks and shoes so she can cool her feet on the flagstone floor. The remainder of the congregation is made up of pious old ladies trying to pray, two hundred tourists straining to see, and a rump of restless kids who've been dragged along by their mums and dads. So it's a mixed bunch.

Whilst all of this is going on the organ is playing ethereal tunes which suddenly swell up into a heart thumping rumble as the parade of priests troop in with their crosses held high, swinging their smoky incense jugs back and forth on a chain.

The service follows the Book of Common Prayer with choral music (psalms, canticles and anthems), scripture readings and prayers. The choristers usually come from the Westminster Abbey Choir School but they also welcome visiting singers. (The choir today is from Queen's College Oxford.) Most of the hymns are performed by the choir alone and that's when the singing sounds amazing. If you've heard it on TV then you won't be prepared for what it actually sounds like echoed around the Abbey - some of it is beautiful enough to make you cry.

You don't get to experience it like this when the Abbey is packed with sightseers but when you're sitting here listening to the music beneath the soaring ceiling, looking up at the stained-glass windows, and surrounded by that seasonal smell of incense, it really hits home what this place is all about. If my local church sounded half this good then I would have converted ages ago.

After sixty minutes the priests parade out again and you're very quickly ushered out of the door. There's no time for sightseeing. Before you know it you're walking down the front steps past the priest who's wishing everyone peace on earth, beneath the sound of peeling bells which quickly get drowned out by the beeping bikes and buses roaring round to Parliament Square. Then you can smell the hot dog burger van that's parked ten metres from the gate.

I definitely recommend giving it a go (even if you're not religious) because there's a lot to enjoy, and be moved by, if you let it.

I’ve ranked the Evensong at Westminster Abbey as ★2 in the historic sites I’d recommend, ★5 in London’s best free days out, ★9 in my favourite London landmarks and ★14 in my must-do list for London

It also appears in my two free London itineraries and three 2-day London itineraries

London Squire guide­book – Check out my guide­book avail­able to buy at Amaz­on, Apple and Kobo. I’ve person­ally visited 210 Lon­don land­marks, attract­ions and hotels and collected all of my rev­iews, ex­ample itiner­aries, handy pract­ical info, and advice about using the buses and trains into an eBook, along with 675 original photos