Westminster Abbey in London is opening up an area of the medieval church previously closed off to the public, where hundreds of artefacts are displayed to tell about its thousand-year history.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries are in the 13th-century triforium, some 16 metres above the floors of the church used for royal coronations and weddings as well as a resting place for famous Britons.

From the Westminster Retable altarpiece to the funeral effigy head of King Henry VII, displayed items are exhibited along four themes - "Building Westminster Abbey", "Worship and Daily Life", "Westminster Abbey and the Monarchy" and "The Abbey and National Memory".

"Quite a few of the objects are new and have never been displayed before," said the Head Conservator at Westminster Abbey Vanessa Simeoni.

The galleries open on June 11.

Writer: Doloresz Katanich with Reuters