Though the Confessor had been dead for almost 200 years, Henry ate, drank and worshipped him, and finally created for the long-dead King a shrine of unparalleled magnificence. Of course, such a shrine would need a home that equalled its splendour - the new Westminster Abbey. Henry demolished the old basilica at Westminster and replaced it with an immense Gothic abbey, a building that now fitted his vision of an awe-inspiring English monarch. From now on, Westminster would be the symbolic heart of the kingdom, the place where all English monarchs would be crowned and buried. His father, King Henry III, reigned for 56 years. He's not remembered for any stirring achievement or blood-soaked conquest, but Henry's time on the throne was driven by a magnificent obsession. He wanted to turn the monarchy into England's dominant power.