Editing Westminster Abbey (section)

=== 18th and 19th centuries ===
{{Multiple image
| image1            = Wenceslas Hollar - Westminster Abbey. West front - trimmed and cleaned.jpg
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| image2            = Westminster Abbey by Canaletto, 1749.jpg
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| alt1              = A black and white engraving of Westminster Abbey's western facade without towers
| alt2              = A painting of Westminster Abbey's western facade with two towers
| footer            = The west front, before and after the construction of the western towers. Engraving on the left by [[Wenceslas Hollar]]; painting at right by [[Canaletto]].
| total_width       = 400
}}

At the end of the 17th century, the architect [[Christopher Wren]] was appointed the abbey's first [[Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey|Surveyor of the Fabric]]. He began a project to restore the exterior of the church,{{sfn|Jenkyns|2004|p=13}} which was continued by his successor, [[William Dickinson (architect)|William Dickinson]].{{sfn|Jenkyns|2004|p=64}} After over two hundred years, the abbey's two western towers were built in the 1740s in a Gothic–[[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] style by [[Nicholas Hawksmoor]] and [[John James (architect)|John James]].{{sfn|Jenkyns|2004|p=13}}<ref name="Historic England" />

On 11 November 1760, the funeral of [[George II of Great Britain|George II]] was held at the abbey, and the king was interred next to his late wife, [[Caroline of Ansbach]]. He left instructions for the sides of his and his wife's coffins to be removed so that their remains could mingle.{{sfn|Black|2007|p=253}} He was the last monarch to be buried in the abbey.{{sfn|Wilkinson|Knighton|2010|p=57}} Around the same time, the tomb of Richard{{Nbsp}}II developed a hole through which visitors could put their hands. Several of his bones went missing, including a jawbone which was taken by a boy from Westminster School and kept by his family until 1906, when it was returned to the abbey.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2013|pp=16–18}}

In the 1830s, the screen dividing the nave from the choir, which had been designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, was replaced by one designed by [[Edward Blore]]. The screen contains the monuments to the scientist [[Isaac Newton]] and the military general [[James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope|James Stanhope]].{{sfn|Jenkyns|2004|p=113}} Further [[Victorian restoration|rebuilding and restoration]] occurred in the 19th century under the architect [[George Gilbert Scott]], who rebuilt sections of the chapter house and north porches, and designed a new altar and [[reredos]] for the crossing. His successor, [[John Loughborough Pearson|J. L. Pearson]], finished the work on the north porches and also reconstructed the northern rose window.{{sfn|Crook|2019|pp=286–293}}