London: Westminister Abbey

Westminster Abbey is like the epicentre of English history.  It has been the scene of royal weddings and coronations for around 1000 years.  The building is crammed with royal tombs, burials and memorials to many great and ordinary people including politicians, statesmen, aristocrats, knights, military heroes, poets, artists, scientists and the unknown soldier.  It is overwhelming and awe-inspiring.  Everywhere I turned was a familiar name, a beautiful work of art or an amazing story.  (Note: this is a long blog post because there was so much to see and reflect upon.)

When I first visited Westminster Abbey in 1996, it was free and I was only weighed down by a backpack!  Almost 30 years later I went with my 14 year old daughter and paid £29 for both of us.  So many lifetimes have passed between these visits.  I can remember at least one occasion I refused to visit when I was annoyed that they had started charging to enter and I think I went there for evensong.  I found an article from 2020 saying that Westminster had lifted the ban on photos and that entry was £18.  Imagine the place being so much cheaper but no photos!

During this visit I was able to take so many photos with my smartphone but I do not remember if I was permitted to take photos in 1996.  The swag of photos is a tyranny of choice and reveals how little I took in.  Looking back through a lot of photos can be overwhelming, especially when it was quite a rushed visit.  Sometimes when time-poor as a tourist I take photos with the intention of finding out more about them later.  Hence this post has taken quite a lot of time because I have had to search for information about many of my photos, mainly on the Westminster Abbey website, because I love stories and details!  Even if I don't get to hear them when I am in situ.  There was a freedom of sorts to just look when developing camera film was expensive and I had no notions of searching online back in 1996.

We visited on our busy last day in London between London Eye and the Wallace Collection.  Sylvia was hangry and decided she did not want to go in.  I was determined I would.  So I stood in a long (albeit fast-moving) queue with my teenage daughter berating me about how much she did not want to go in and what a terrible mother I was.  It was not my favourite moment of the trip.  I was happy when I arrived at the door to find that an adult ticket was the same price as the family ticket for an adult and one child.  At least I didn't have to pay to take her in through the Abbey to the cafe.

We entered through the North entrance into the Statemen's Aisle under this impressive stained glass rose window from 1722.  (Not much stained glass from prior to the 18th Century remains.)  We were greeted by elaborate sculptures of familiar names such as William Pitt (1708-1778), Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) and William Gladstone (1809-1898).  There was a lot of looking up and trying to take photos to avoid the crowds here which does not always make for the best photos.   

I picked up a (free) headset for a self-guided tour.  But when I spoke to the staff member there about finding out way to the cafe I was told I could not take the headset so I would have to leave it there and return for it.

We walked to the cafe through the nave and the cloisters (above photo).  So many amazing memorials, carvings, arches and vaulted ceilings to pass to get there.  Sylvia could not avoid its beauty.  She even took a few photos.

The Cellarium Cafe is quite near the exit via the cloisters.  Like the rest of the Abbey, the room impresses with its historic architecture.  We were seated at pews at a long table that we shared with others,

I ordered the soup of the day which was a spicy tomato and capsicum soup (I think).  The spices overwhelmed rather than complementing the vegetables and it was not great.  I wanted something quick before heading back out to soak up the history.  Sylvia was there for the long run and ordered a hot chocolate and a Basil gnocchi with sun-dried tomato tapenade, lovage pesto, pine kernels, and cheese.  She loved it so much, though she put the pine nuts to the side.

I then ordered her a Sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.  I didn't even stay to check how it looked or tasted.  This is Sylvia's photo of the pudding about which she was most complimentary. 

Meanwhile I had a lot to see and pressure not to be too long while she waited.  I hurriedly backtracked through the cloisters and the nave to regain my headset commentary.  I confess to being a bit impatient with the commentary.  There were various levels of information and I skimmed across it as quickly as I could and I found the Abbey a little confusing.  (The clearest map of the Abbey I have found since my visit is at Wikipedia.)  I understand it better now I have had time to read about it and wish I could go around it again.  But I do not regret that I made sure to see it. 

When I watch a movie I like to google people and stories on my phone to fill in the gaps and work out where I have seen that actor before.  Going through Westminster Abbey was a bit like watching a long movie without listening to the commentary very well and without time to check details on my phone.  Names of the dead jumped out at me everywhere that I knew I had come across somewhere in names of towns, streets and institutions or that I had read about in history and literature or head mentioned somewhere.

Willliam Wilberforce (1759-1833) is a good example.  I cannot think where I have heard about him but he sounded familiar.  When I read about his leadership in the movement to abolish slavery, how he changed political and social attitudes and was a role model to evangelicals, I can't help but think it is just a name you hear every now and again.

Many of the burials and memorials are slabs in the floor.  It feels slightly disrespectful to walk on them - like going to a cemetery and walking over all the graves - but also hard to avoid.  This North East corner of the nave had a cluster of scientists.  It is also hard to avoid including other visitors in some of these photos.  In this above photo the white slab is Charles Darwin's grave (1809-1882), buried next to the lesser known but eminent scientist, Sir John Herschel (1792-1871).  Herschel and his family made great contributions to science: he established the first observatory in the Southern Hemisphere, his father discovered the planet Uranus, and his eldest son developed fingerprinting. Just ahead of Darwin's grave is the memorial stone of Australia's Howard Florey (1898-1968) who is "celebrated for making Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin into a clinically useable product thus initiating the era of antibiotics."  The Florey is a well known research institute in Melbourne.

The grave of Mrs Jane Hill, who was born Jane Stoteville (c1553-1631) is the oldest monument in the nave.  She was married twice, bore six sons and three daughters.  One of her sons was a gentleman waiter to King James I and a cup bearer to King Charles I.  She must have been pious because she is represented kneeling in prayer and on a plaque beneath a small skeleton in a winding sheet the Latin inscription can be translated as "Death is gain to me"

The nave is part of the  Gothic church that was built by King Henry III and consecrated in 1269 but not completed until 1517.  This is the church we know today with towering pointed arches and a ribbed vaulted ceiling.  The Abbey has the highest Gothic vault in England.  Many of us will find it a familiar sight from images of royal weddings, coronations and funerals.  Who could not find it a magnificent sight!

The Quire screen is marvellous and incorporates an impressive monument of Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), close to his burial site.  He is considered one of the great scientists in history, best known for his theory of gravity inspired by watching an apple fall from a tree.  On Newton's monument (as described by the Mathematical Tourist) are signs of how much more he contributed to science: on a sarcophagus, eight little boys are depicted playing with scientific and astronomical instruments such as the reflecting telescope he invented.  "Newton is resting on four of his famous books: Divinity, Chronology, Optiks and the Principia Mathematica. He is pointing to the picture held up by two angels which represents a mathematical scheme and a formula. There is a globe over him with the Zodiacal signs graved on it and an allegory of the Astronomy sitting on the top."

The epitah on the monument exclaims his greatness: "who by a strength of mind almost divine, and mathematical principles peculiarly his own, explored the course and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, the tides of the sea, the dissimilarities in rays of light, and, what no other scholar has previously imagined, the properties of the colours thus produced. ... Mortals rejoice that there has existed such and so great an ornament of the human race!"

This is the Quire (or Choir).  On these splendid carved wooden stalls, members of the Westminster Abbey Choir sing daily at choral services such as evensong.  It continues the tradition of the Gregorian chants sung by the monks of the monastery.  I have vague but wonderful memories of attending Evensong to hear the heavenly harmonies of the traditional hymns.

Skimming over the headset information meant I didn't quite get where all the royal tombs were and missed some.  With limited knowledge, I believe this was the tomb and shrine of Edward the Confessor in this chapel beyond the arches in the above photo.  While it is not open to the public it is a central part of the history of the building.  The formal title of the Abbey is the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster.  It dates back to when according to tradition, a fisherman on the Thames River had a vision of St Peter near the site.  A Benedictine Monastery dedicated to St Peter was built on the site in 960AD.  

King and saint Edward the Confessor (c1002-1066) had vowed that if he returned from exile to his kingdom he would make a pilgrimage to Rome.  Once returned to the throne he was unable to leave his subjects and the Pope released him from the vow on the condition that he found or restore a monastery to St Peter.  Note the correlation between the founder of the church and the head of England.  Edward built a new Norman style church on the site of the monastery.  It was consecrated on 28 Dec 1065 but king too ill to attend and died soon after on 5 January 1066 and was buried in his church.  Later in 1269, King Henry III moved his body to a resplendent shrine at the heart of his new Gothic Westminster Abbey building.

The Chapel of Edward the Confessor is also is the site of other royal tombs.  Around it in the Northern Ambulatory are smaller chapels.  The photo of the Islip Chapel (above) was taken through the stone screen that prevented the public going inside.  You can see a part of it in the top right hand corner.  The chapel was commissioned by Abbot John Islip (1464-1532) in the 16th Century and was the site of his burial.  Much is made of the fun of the rebus of an eye and a branch (aka slip), which = I-Slip, above the screen but I missed it.  My eye was drawn beyond the screen.

While everyone seems fascinated by the eye, I was more impressed by the post-war stained glass window by Hugh Easton.  In the bottom corners are lines from the Book of Psalms in the Bible: "Though shalt not be afraid for any terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day" and "The young lion and the dragon shalt thy tread under thy feet."  These are both horrifying and comforting words.  The main picture is a the Abbot presenting a building to St Margaret of Antioch who is slaying a dragon.  (She is the saint after which the adjacent St Margaret's Church is named.)  Cherubs either side also hold buildings that are clearly the Abbey.  The window from 1948 includes a diamond shaped piece of Medieval glass - above the head of the Abbot - showing his rebus of a boy slipping off a tree.

Through the archway from Edward the Confessors chapel is the Henry VII Lady Chapel.  This chapel had so many fascinating details: royal tombs, statues of saints, coats of arms, crests and crowds.  There were also little chapels off the main chapel.  So many chapels.

The Lady Chapel was completed in 1516.  It was lauded as a marvel of late Medieval architecture and is the burial place of 15 kings and queens.  It is also the Chapel of the Order of the Bath.  (Not to be confused with when your mum tells you to wash.)  That is why it is so colourful.

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, an order of chivalry founded in 1725, named for the medieval custom of bathing as part of the ritual of preparing for knighthood.  The most senior members including 34 knights have stalls in the Lady Chapel.  Each knight's stall has a flag or banner with their coat of arms, a helmet topped with a mantling (a cloth that is tied to the helmet above the shield) and a crest.  On the wall of the stall is a brass plate with the name, coat of arms and date of admission to the Order.  Knights often have to wait many years before a knight dies and a stall becomes vacant.

Below the seats are carvings that from a distance look like a uterus but are called misericords.  The hinged seats flip up so that the monks could lean on the ledge during long services.  But because they were mostly unseen while the seats were down, the craftsmen in the 16th and 18th Centuries were free to carve non-religious scenes such as a mermaid,

I read about all the kings and queens of England and Great Britain trying to find out which king or queen was represented here, only to find (in a list of surprising hidden details, shared by a guide) that it is the tomb of Francis Sidney, Countess of Sussex. She was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I and founded Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. (Alumni include. Oliver Cromwell, Asa Briggs, Carol Vorderman and Alex Horne.) At her feet is a blue porcupine, as featured on the Sidney family coat of arms.

I also tried to find who was memorialised in this elegant structure.  No luck here.  The wood carvings suggest it might be a knight on horseback but that does not really narrow it down in this section.  I guess it was more likely to be a noble rather than a royal.  I am happy to be enlightened by anyone who knows more.

By the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) and Queen Mary I (1516-1558), the 1977 Martyrs Memorial stone reads: "Near the tomb of Mary and Elizabeth remember before God all those who divided at the Reformation by different convictions laid down their lives for Christ and conscience' sake."  It reminds me of the tragedy of royal sisters Elizabeth and Mary who were divided by religion and how these tensions were played out in many households and communities.

The memorial to Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) was built by her son King James 1.  In 1612, he brought her remains from her original resting place at Peterborough Cathedral to be buried in the Lady Chapel.  The monument over her tomb was taller than that of Queen Elizabeth I.  This seems to be symbolic of the competition between the cousins.  Both had a claim to the throne so Elizabeth saw her cousin as a threat.  She kept Mary under house arrest for almost 20 years and, after she was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth, beheaded her.  Being a royal was risky business.  So much division and suspicion between family.  In the headset information I was sure I heard them say that to James I, Mary was the true queen of England, but I could not find it elsewhere.

Only 95 out of the 107 statues of saints chosen by Henry VII are still in the Lady Chapel. plus a modern replacement of a Henry VII statue.  This above photo from the South aisle depicts St Katherine (crowned with book and sword piercing the emperor’s head and broken wheel below) and St Margaret of Antioch (crowned with cross-staff in the mouth of a dragon).  There is a blank space in the middle where it seems there was another statue.  Perhaps it offended during the Reformation or fell into disrepair. 

The RAF Chapel was dedicated in 1947.  It features a Battle of Britain memorial window by Hugh Easton.  It is dedicated to the Royal Air Force members who lost their lives in the Battle of Britain in 1940.  During this battle, this chapel was damaged by a bomb that destroyed the Tudor glass and also left a hole in the wall, which is now covered by glass.  Can you see the spot of light under the window which I think is where the hole was?

After Henry VII (1457-1509) built the Lady Chapel, of course he was buried there.  His chapel is in the middle of the Lady Chapel.  I think the gold effigies of him and his wife, Elizabeth of York are behind this bronze screen surrounding his tomb.

Once I left the Lady Chapel I found myself in Poets Corner in the South Transept.  Although I am not so familiar with the United Kingdom's kings and queens, I have read much more about its literary history.  One of the first memorials I saw was a bust of Adam Lindsay Gordon (.  He was an Australian poet who wrote the lines that I learnt from my mother:  "life is mostly froth and bubble, two things stand like stone: Kindness in another's trouble, courage in your own."  Words to live by!

Then there was the Shakespeare memorial monument.  His is surrounded by busts of Robert Southey (1774-1843), Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), Robert Burns (1759-1796), Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), a statue of James Thomson (1700-1748, wrote the lyrics of 'Rule Britannia') with a cherub, William Wordsworth (1770-1830).  Also represented on plaques were John Keats, Percy Shelley, Jane Austen, and The Bronte Sisters.  So many familiar names.  So many amazing writers.

This monument is to John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll (1680-1743), soldier and orator.  History writes the story behind him, Eloquence speaks, and fittingly for Poets Corner, on the other side sits Minerva the goddess of poetry, music, craft, and wisdom.  I was amused by the Duke himself dressed in as Roman armour and looking rather bored by it all.  The Westminster website called it "perhaps the finest 18th century monument in the Abbey."

In contrast, David Garrick (1716-1779), an actor, is about to bow with a flourish for his audience after a fine performance.  At his feet sit Tragedy and Comedy.  I am not really familiar with Garrick's work but his is a name I come across from time to time in a title of a Margaret Drabble novel or the name of a West End Theatre.

In the midst of poet's corner is a reminder of just how old this abbey is.  These paintings depict The Risen Christ with St Thomas (red background), and St Christopher carrying the Christ Child (green background).  They are estimated to be painted between 1270-1300.  The paintings had been covered up by monuments and rediscovered in 1934.

Then it was time to hand back in my headset.  When walking out through the cloisters, I stopped at the Pyx Chamber.  This is one of the few remains of Edward the Confessor's 11th Century monastery. 

I noticed the Circumnavigators of the World Memorial because one of them was Captain James Cook who was famous for the "discovery" of Australia.  Explorers are no longer so feted for their travels through other people's lands.  Maybe "circumnavigator" is an alternative to "explorer".  To sail around the globe is an achievement in any era.  It was interesting that the memorial celebrated achievements by Francis Drake in the 17th Century, James Cook in the 18th Century and Francis Chichester in the 20th Century. 

With one last glace at the cloisters, I went to find Sylvia in the cafe.  She was ready to go.  There was much more I could have seen: Britain's oldest door, the Coronation chair, the Chapter House, St Margaret's Church. But we had other places to see.  Even if I had plenty of time I am sure I wouldn't see everything. 

Great buildings contain both beauty and stories.  Westminster Abbey has plenty of both.  It thrives because it has been in continuing use for over 1000 years.  Many are mainstream stories of the "great men" of history: the kings and leaders who conquered and chronicled.  We all know now that there is more to history than that.  In recent years, social media has shown power not to be as pure and glorious as it was once considered.  Nevertheless this traditional history has some fascinating tales, made significant changes to our world and and left behind magnificent monuments for us to admire.  It was good to be there and refresh my memory and feel inspired about big picture history.