Visiting Guidelines

Respecting the Monastic Community

Visiting Guidelines

Abbey Sites Open to the Public

1
Guesthouse Lobby: CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
2
Abbey Church: The spiritual centre of the monastery and seminary. Admire its architecture, artwork, and stained glass windows. Currently, we cannot hold public times of worship during this period of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, at other times of day the Abbey Church* will be open for private prayer (See Visiting Hours):
3
Abbey Gardens and Paths: View the abbey gardens and walk along paths through the woods . (Please observe areas reserved for the monastic community).
4
Abbey Cemetery: Respectfully visit and pray for our deceased confreres.
5
Parking Lot: Overflow parking and parking for large recreational vehicles and buses.

Useful Information for Visitors

Entrance Gate

Abbey Gate is closed at 5:00 p.m. Day visitors are asked to leave the grounds by 4:45 p.m.

Clothes

Entry to the Abbey Church is permitted only to appropriately dressed visitors.
Low cut or sleeveless clothing, shorts, miniskirts and hats are not allowed.

Pets

Animals, even small ones, are not permitted on the Abbey property.

Picnics

It is not permitted to picnic on the Abbey property.

RVs & Large Buses

Recreation vehicles and large buses are asked to park in the overflow parking lot as designated by #5 in the picture above.

Bicycles

Riding bicycles on the Abbey property is not permitted.

Photography

It is permitted to take photographs for personal use only but photography is strictly forbidden during liturgical services. Group and wedding photography is not permitted anywhere on the Abbey property.

Mobile Phones, Tablets, etc.

Endeavouring to ensure an atmosphere of sacred silence, the use of mobile phones is strongly discouraged inside the Abbey Church. Visitors are required to activate the silent function of their mobile device.

Drones

Due to the noise they create and the breach of privacy, drones are not permitted on the Abbey property.

Wi-Fi

To preserve an atmosphere of recollection, the Abbey does not provide Wi-Fi coverage.

Wheelchair Accessibility

The Abbey Church and gardens are accessible to people with motor disabilities. Future plans include specially equipped washrooms.

Westminster Abbey is private property and not a public park. Striving to create a sacred environment of peace and prayer the monastic community recommends other scenic locations for recreational opportunities that cannot be met at the Abbey (i.e. dog walking, picnicking, group and wedding photography etc.). These locations are: Heritage Park, Rolley Lake Provincial Park, Hayward Lake, Matsqui Trail Regional Park, Harrison Lake, Kilby Provincial Park, Stave Lake and Golden Ears Provincial Park .

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